Angel for the Wicked
by NadinLuciferHawk
Summary: The Mad Creator is dead, everything is fine and Mika-chan is bored out of his mind. What's there to do? Of course, go where the fun is and become a pirate! But he may gain more than he bargained for...
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note**

Attention! This has nothing (much) to do with the little humorous FF 'Redheads' I wrote a while ago. But I liked the concept, so I also wrote a 18-chapter long story based on these two charas.

There are no pairings. Imagine whatever you want. I don't really care.

**Disclaimer:**

I do not own One Piece or Angel Sanctuary. Oda and Yuki do. Not me. They.

Enjoy!

* * *

20 years had passed since the Creator's death. Despite initial problems after their lord's death the angels managed to get back into the track. They found a way to recreate without the help of God or Adam Kardamon, built up some sort of functioning government and the traces of the war were almost entirely gone.

In short: Everything was better. Not everything was running absolutely smooth, but they were working towards that.

For the leader of the heavenly armies this meant something else: Absolute Boredom. Nobody ordered a war on a silver plate anymore. Michael was already not included in the rebuilding of heaven because of his … attitude. He was left to guard the borders to the demon's realm, but the attacks of the demons became less frequent to the point of being too small to quench his ever increasing boredom.

The teenage-looking angel hung over his throne like a dead animal. This association was oddly fitting since Michael felt the boredom was killing him. Not even Raphael – who had woken up a decade ago – could help his little friend with that.

"Michael-sama?" a rough voice asked up. Michael did not need to lift his head to know it was his second-in-command Khamael.

"I'm booooooored!" the small redhead complained, "GOD! It's nothing to do!"

Khamael remained stoic. He knew that his lord was always bored. He was it already when Sevothtarte was still ruling heaven. But at least he was allowed to kill demons then. Nowadays the angels tried to ignore the demons. And without his normal routine of slaying the Evils, the little angel was left to rot in boredom.

What was there to do?

Khamael watched his master without a word. Suddenly the little angel jumped to his feet – an action which startled the cyborg angel – and shouted: "ENOUGH!"

"What is enough, Michael-sama?"

"EVERYTHING!" he shouted, pacing around in front of his throne. "I HAVE ENOUGH OF ALL THIS SHIT!"

Khamael remained as stoic as always. Eventually Michael stopped his pointless rambling and whirled around, pointing at his Second and exclaimed: "You will take over my job as leader of the armies, Khamael!"

Now the man was taken back: "Michael-sama?"

"I have enough of this whole crap! I'll leave Heaven and go to earth. There _must_ be some kind of _something_ down there!"

"Leave Heaven…?"

"There's nothing to do here anyways" Michael huffed out and picked up his trusty sword Kriel. "Nobody's going to miss me when I leave for a few years."

"What about Raphael-sama?"

Michael froze for a moment before he brushed that off, saying: "He won't miss me either. The womanizer has enough to do with that Embryo Project."

Stalking he made his way out of his stronghold. Khamael followed him worried. Eventually the two reached a balcony where the angels took off to their missions.

"Are you sure about this, Michael-sama?"

"Absolutely" Michael grimaced. "As long as I'm gone, you are going to fill out my position. Tell my guys about it – and tell Raphael, too."

With a blank face the tall man watched Michael unfurling his wings. Like every one of the four archangels his wings were not white like those of the other angels, but rather in a vibrant mixture of red and gold, making them look like the blazing fire he commanded.

"How long will you be gone?" Khamael asked before his master took off.

"Dunno" Michael admitted, secured his sword to his back and pushed his goggles over his eyes. "A year. Maybe a few more. Doesn't matter anyways."

Khamael sighed. He knew that it was pointless trying to bring his master off his ideas. So he could do nothing but say: "Understood. Stay save, Michael-sama."

"What do you take me for?" Michael grumbled. "See ya eventually."

With that said he jumped off the balcony and spread his blazing wings, testing the winds before he dove down.

Khamael watched after him until the vibrant red of the small angel's wings disappeared in the fog of the clouds. Then he sighed out heavily and went back inside. He had to inform the soldiers and the government about this.


	2. Chapter 2

The world below his wings was only a blur. Michael looked down to the blue sea beneath him for a split moment before shifting his attention back to the front. A storm was moving his direction, but luckily there was an island nearby.

The weather on this part of the world was always extremely unpredictable, and Michael knew by experience how dangerous it could be for an angel. He'd lost two or three Merkaba-type flight vessels to the storms here already. This was one of the reasons why he chose to fly by himself – he was more agile than the sedate Merkaba.

Not to mention that he could hide himself easier than a huge flying machine.

A loud thunderclap called forth his attention once more. The storm was close and his feathers quivered from the static in the air. These lightning were different to the kind of astral lightning his buddy Raphael used and could even hurt him when he was hit by one. Sighing he changed course to find shelter and flew towards the island.

Soon he saw the island's harbour under him. It was only a small, relatively insignificant, rocky island, but the harbour town built there was interesting. A harbour for the dark side of the humans.

It was a pirate town and pirate harbour. There were only pirate ships docked there and he heard the distant sounds of jeering, laughing and brawls. He grinned. That was just what he needed after all this boring time up in heaven and after this long flight. God, his wings were hurting and felt like lead!

But he had to be careful nonetheless. Landing a little outside town he made sure that nobody saw him before folding his wings neatly and letting them disappear into his back. That way nobody would neither see nor feel them and he would appear like anyone else.

Michael pushed his goggles back to his forehead, made sure that his sword was secure and easily to reach and began walking towards the lights of the town.

-0-

Nobody seemed to take notice of the red-haired boy that appeared in their midst and looked around with awe. The houses were mostly run-down and there were different kinds of services everywhere. There were blacksmiths for the weapons, ropemakers, sailmakers, whores on every third door or so, provision traders and a lot of bars. It was dark due the nearing storm, but the lamps and torches everywhere provided a kind of uncanny light. Everything smelled of alcohol, blood, gunpowder, vomit and food. It was incredible loud, too, with people shouting, jeering, screaming and the sounds of gunshots and canon blasts. The sounds even cancelled out the storm coming towards them.

Michael smirked. This was so different from heaven! He felt excited and discomposed at the same time, his fingers were twitching around the hilt of his trusty sword and his slender rattail-braid swung from side to side.

After bumping again into an especially dirty-looking pirate Michael had to fight the urge to pummel the man. Not that it would matter here anyways, since there were brawls happening everywhere and no law enforcement of any kind. Still he decided not to get into a fight right away. First he would take a good look around. There was no way he would use his powers or even show his wings without absolutely having to! It would only impair with his fun!

But first he needed a drink. So he went off for the nastiest bar he could find – the nastier they looked the harder the stuff they served, and Michael felt he was in desperate need for something hard.

Also in those bars he could easier pick a fight without anyone caring.

Michael entered the smoke-filled room and was momentarily blinded by sharp tobacco smoke. It hurt his throat and eyes, but he bit it back and made his way through hordes of unwashed pirates lingering around dirty, food- and booze-drenched tables. The floor and walls were carrying a lot of old scars, telling of a life of constant abuse. Again nobody seemed to notice him, or perhaps they were too occupied with other means of amusement as Michael noted at the sight of four really trashy prostitutes offering their 'treatment' to the men in the dirty bar.

Ignoring the mumbling and jeering of the men and evading a tall, really busty bar maid he made his way to the bar counter. There he looked for a place away from the main stream, but still close enough to catch a few words or something like that. With pleasure he noted only one other person sitting on the bar, but he could only see a massive dark furry coat and dark boots from that person. Not that it mattered anyways.

Finally the obese, greasily bartender reacted. But he did not ask him about his age, he only asked: "What'cha drinkin' lad?"

"Something hard. Really hard. And fast" Remarkably, the man sniffed only once and shuffled away to get the wanted. Michael shook his head at that. After all, he definitely did not look old enough to drink such stuff – or let alone be in a bar like this!

Instead the bartender brought him a glass full of amber liquid and Michael drank it all up in one shot, not even casting a glance to the bartender or the other person on the bar and grimaced at the taste for a moment before slamming the glass down while growling: "Refill! But this time, do not piss into it, or I will take care you will never piss again!"

The bartender quickly refilled the glass and moved away to tend to his other customers.

Michael crossed his arms on the counter and glared at his drink, going over his next steps in his head. He had left heaven for a little time of 'vacation' down here on earth to quench his boredom. This place was looking like a good place to start, and he thought about joining or founding a pirate crew on his own. Nobody would ask him why he destroyed things then. And here he would surely find some people and a ship to call his own.

But first… "Hey… ya a cute boy…" Sighing soundlessly Michael turned around on his bar stool, staring with disgust at an obese man with a breath worse than that of any beast he'd encountered so far that had closed in on him. He also had two big mean looking lackeys with him. The man smirked at him in a truly unpleasant way and said: "Wonder what ya doin' here all by ya'self… aren't ya a tad too youn' to drink such hard liquor?"

Michael narrowed his eyes. But before he could explode, the other continued to talk: "Ya see; I like cute boys such as yourself. I know who'd pay dearly for such a kid" His eyes started to sparkle and added: "Especially when they are related to a famous pirate!"

Michael quirked an eyebrow, asking: "What do you mean?"

"Oh? Are you not related to that Eustass Kid guy?" The redhead said nothing to that, he only continued to glare while his hand itched to grab his over-sized sword. "No matter. I'll just sell ya on the market. Get him, men!"

"I see…" the redhead said and gulped down the entire content of his glass with one swing when the two big lackeys closed in on him, "So you are a slave trader or something, eh? Sadly, I have to decline your offer."

In the next moment he whipped his sword out before anyone could react and brought it in front of him. His golden eyes were almost blazing when he exclaimed: "I am the Great Powers Michael-sama! You will never stand any chance!"

-0-

Eustass Kid had ordered his fifth shot or so and he was not even beginning to feel tipsy. So he thought about calling it a day and going into another bar in hopes of getting wasted there, but something held him back.

It was already stifling in here, but he had the feeling that it just became warmer.

Kid did not turn around; instead he strained his ears and listened for sudden movement. Heavy boots trumped into his general direction and soon he saw a blurry shape moving through the smoke. Only when it was closer to him, he recognised it and was surprised at seeing a slim boy of perhaps 12 to 14 years wearing a black trench coat, black pants and black combat boots. He had a giant sword with a cross-shaped hilt fastened to his back, a pair of goggles on his forehead and… startling red hair not unlike his own. The boy's golden eyes looked uninterested around before he sat down and ordered really hard booze. Kid scrunched his nose at the thought that adolescents could simply order here hard liquor, but then again… this kid there swallowed the whole stuff at once and ordered more without even flinching.

Kid kept stealing side glances at the boy. Except for the golden eyes, the less spiky hair (it was still very wild, though, and braided into a rattail-like braid) and the red, thin eyebrows the boy was an almost identical copy of himself when he was younger. For a moment he wondered whether that kid would later get dark lips and fingernails like he did – his own had darkened during puberty.

He contemplated whether to speak to the boy or not, when something else called his attention. Kid growled darkly at the sight of a slave hunter and his lackeys, and obviously that fat guy had it in on that boy. He talked slurring, and Kid saw the boy's face darken a bit with … rage?

The pirate thought about smashing the fat guy's face in for even thinking about abducting a child, but the boy had suddenly jumped to his feet and drew the sword from his back – the thing was almost as long as he was! Only now did Kid see the fishnet shirt underneath the trench coat and the cross-shaped earring dangling from his left ear. But most prominent thing was the blue wyvern tattooed onto the left side of his face and chest.

"I am the Great Powers Michael-sama! You will never stand any chance!" the boy roared. Kid was highly surprised at the way the kid took on the three stooges without even flinching. Within moments he had knocked down the goons, leaving them on the floor with deep gashes and broken bones and approached the fat man.

Then all hell broke loose. Obviously the fat slave hunter had some friends in here as well. Anyways, half of the contents of the bar were suddenly on their feet with their weapons drawn. The other half either scrambled away or began to fight on their own. Only Kid remained where he was, grinning at the view.

The boy took on all of the guys on his own, not even blinking once as he dealt out violent punches, kicks and sword slashes. Eustass enjoyed this show thoroughly.

-0-

The whole onslaught took only two or three minutes, but when it was over, the interior of the bar was destroyed. Only Kid and the red-haired boy were left standing, everyone else lay unconscious or had fled. Even the bartender had left the room for a more secure side room.

Michael took a disapproving look around and kicked the fat slave hunter once before turning back to the bar counter. Only now did he realise that the fur-clad man had turned around.

For a moment the angel froze. The man that smirked at him looked like… like a more adult variant of himself! Only with dark lips and fingernails, no eyebrows and red instead of golden eyes. But the flame-like hair was in the same shade of red like his own.

The man chuckled, obviously amused, and Michael felt irritated. Thus he snapped: "Did I amuse you, pirate?"

"Very" Kid said, still smirking. "You got some talent in you."

Michael snorted. "Heh. Those were pushovers. I fought worse enemies already." While he said that, he went over to the counter, grabbed Kid's drink and gulped it down at once.

That, however, only made Kid more interested. "Like said, you have some talent in you." Michael stared at him expectantly when the larger male got to his feet. "At any rate, you have blown this joint bad. Let's go somewhere else."

The younger quirked his eyebrow. "What are you talking 'bout?"

"Why don't you simply join my crew, eh?"

"Join your crew?"

"I can see that you're bored out of your mind" he said smirking, "And since you have a lot of talent, I can surely use you in my crew" Extending his hand he said: "I am Captain Eustass Kid, captain of the Kid pirates. And I want you in my crew."

Michael stared at the hand that was offered to him. At least now he understood what the fat slave hunter meant when he talked about him being related 'to a famous pirate'. Then he too began to smirk. "I like guys that know what they want! Very well…" He grabbed the larger hand and said: "I came here to only quench my boredom. Your offer is as good as anything" Both redhead's smirks widened when Michael finally said: "Count me in."


	3. Chapter 3

Killer looked into the darkening sky. The claps of thunder came more frequent now and the air smelled heavy of rain. It was only a matter of minutes now before the storm would finally hit.

He sighed out and his breath steamed through the holes of his mask, making him look like a train.

"When Kid doesn't show up in the next hour, I've got to look for him again" he muttered.

Luckily for him – and for Kid, too – there was the creak of the rope ladder on the side of the ship. Killer breathed out and turned around to meet his long time friend and captain.

"There you are" he huffed out when Kid heaved himself over the railing, "Were you in a brawl again or what took you so long?"

"Yes and no" Kid admitted, "Yes, I had been in a brawl and no, I was not involved in that."

Killer crossed his arms and glared at his friend from under his mask. "Yeah right."

"No, really!" Kid defended himself and turned back to the rope ladder. "Someone else did the beating, I was only watching… oh, and I met someone I'd like to introduce to the crew. Are they inside?"

"Yeah, waiting for dinner… Kid, what do you mean?"

Grinning Kid answered: "I found a new crewmember, Killer!" The Massacre Soldier blinked at him. Suddenly his eyes widened under his mask when Kid helped their seemingly newest member onto the ship.

The new one was a young boy in his early teens with similar red hair and a similar, terrible way of dressing himself like his captain. He looked a lot like Kid, except for the fact that he was, well, younger and tattooed.

"Kid?" Killer eventually asked, very confused, "Who's the boy?"

"Just a little devil I picked up in a bar."

Michael growled at him darkly. Killer noted a sudden rise in the temperature when the boy said: "I am _not_ 'little'. _Never_ call me anything like that!"

"Whatever" Kid said and rolled his eyes, "The kid laid waste to the whole bar and pretty much everyone inside it all by himself! So I of course offered him to join the crew."

"I am no kid" the smaller redhead grumbled. The older pirates ignored him.

Killer looked at the small doppelganger before turning back to Kid. "We are a pirate crew, Kid. Isn't he a little… too young for being a pirate?"

Michael glared at the masked man. "I thought so, too" Kid said nonchalantly, "But you should've seen him fight, Killer" Smirking again Kid made his way over to the superstructures and said: "Trust me."

Killer stared after him for a moment before looking down to the smaller redhead. Raising an eyebrow under his mask he said: "I hope you know into what you are getting yourself, boy. This isn't a cruise, we are the infamous Kid pirates and will fight and encounter enemies far beyond your imagination!"

Michael smirked right back, showing off pointed fangs and not being intimidated in the least. "Perfect. Just what I am looking for. Things became too boring back home!"

"Are you two coming or not?!" Kid shouted from the open door, "Let's get inside!"

-0-

As soon as Kid and the other two entered the mess hall, everything fell silent. Michael stood slightly behind Kid and felt the eyes of the about one dozen pirates staring at him with confusion. Quickly he took a look around. The mess was a rather large room with four long tables. Benches on the tables allowed all pirates to sit comfortably. There were several doors leading away from the room – Michael imagined they led to the storage rooms and sleeping dorms and such.

Two pirates – they were more eye-catching than the rest of them – got up and walked over to Kid and Killer. One of them looked like a blue-haired Zombie, the other was really tall and wore a black hood.

The Zombie looked at the red-haired boy for a moment before he directed his attention back to his captain. "Chief…Who's that?"

"Right" Kid said. Looking up he called: "Hey guys! Listen up for a sec!" When he was sure that he had everyone's attention he pushed Michael in front of him. "This is Mika" Michael flinched involuntarily when Kid used the nickname Raphael had given him so long ago. At least he lost the 'chan'. "He's going to be our newest crewmember. I expect you guys to treat him like one of the others!"

For a moment everything was silent. Then one of Kid's men, a pretty large guy with a scar running over his right eye, got up and asked: "I don' want to question' ya decision, Cap'n, but isn't the kid too _short_ to be a pirate?"

He regretted this immediately. Shouting: "WHO ARE YOU CALLING SHORT?!" Michael had catapulted his body all the way over to him and pummelled him without any problems to the ground. But since his buddies were not really happy about the newbie attacking his seniors, they got up to teach the boy some respect.

It was needless to say that Michael would not let himself taught anything.

"At least he's not using his sword" Kid said grinning while Heat, Wire and Killer stared in disbelieve. The boy fought like a feral wildcat, and their men did not stand even the slightest chance!

"He's got… an attitude" Killer said dryly.

Wire raised an eyebrow and asked: "Is he somehow related to you, Captain?"

"Ah, no" Kid answered smirking.

"But he acts just like you! It's as if the kid's your little brother or so!"

Kid shrugged. "I have no siblings. And I am too young to have a son in his age."

"You have no idea" Michael grunted as he came over, wiping his hands on his coat. Behind him were the rest of the crew laying and groaning in pain.

"If you want to stay with us, Mika" Killer said sighing, "then don't beat up the crew."

"No need" Michael huffed and grabbed a pint of rum from one of the tables, "They learned their lesson. Heh! I'm not called 'Great Powers' without reason!"

Killer sighed out again and Kid grinned broadly. "See Killer? I said the boy's got it in him!"

"Whatever. Heat, see to the men, we need them tomorrow."

"Will do" the Zombie said and went over, taking Wire with him.

Michael raised his eyebrow, asking: "The guy's your doc?"

"Not what someone expects, eh?" Kid answered laughing.

"At least he's no womanizer like the doc I know…"

-0-

A little time later Kid and Killer sat together with Michael in Kid's quarters to discuss his entry into the crew.

"Okay, Mika" Kid began, "If you want to stay with us, you have to follow a few rules. First off: I'm the captain, and my words are law on this ship, got it? Whatever I say, you do without complaining."

Michael shrugged. "Sure."

Jabbing his thumb at Killer Kid continued: "Killer's the second in Command. So his words have a meaning around here as well. Heat's the doc, so he's got a special position. Listen to him as well."

"Because you sure do that, right?" Killer asked sarcastically.

"Shut up" Kid grunted. Turning back to the smaller redhead squatting on Kid's bed he said: "Behave yourself and perhaps you get to say something around here as well. And with that I mean: Do not beat up the crew without reason!"

Michael rolled his eyes. "They called me short" he eventually grunted. "Let me tell you what: I do not like being reminded of my height. People fucking _die_ when I am reminded of my height!"

"Oh, so you had a good day or what?"

"Too tired to kill someone" Michael sighed out and said: "Just don't see me like everyone else. I am not like everyone else… and I will not be ignored."

"Already noted that" Killer said, "You sure got a temper" Glaring at the small teen he asked: "And you sure you are not related to Kid in any way?"

"Absolutely sure" Michael retorted.

"Well, it's settled then!" Kid said grinning. "Welcome aboard, Mika."

-0-

A few hours later the small teen lay in his new bed. It was actually only a hammock in a small room nearby the captain's quarters. Michael took a look around. The room was very small, with only barely enough space for the hammock, a small desk with a chair and a trunk for his clothing. He made a mental note to get himself additional clothing later on.

He had asked Killer whether all of their men had such rooms, but Killer replied that most of them shared a larger room with one or more room mates and his room was actually a storage room until a few hours ago. Michael did not mind, though. At least he had his privacy here.

The angel smirked a last time at the ceiling and crossed his arms behind his head. Raphael would probably scold him later for not only meddling with humans, but with pirates! But no matter. He would not be missed for a few days. And when they did, he would already be sure about his position within this pirate crew.

Until then he would preserve his strength.

With that thought he turned around awkwardly – he was not yet used to the swaying of the ship and the hammock – and closed his eyes. One of his better qualities was that he could sleep pretty much in any environment, even on a swaying ship! So it was no wonder that he was asleep within minutes.


	4. Chapter 4

"This is outrageous!" Sakazuki shouted and smashed his newspaper down onto the small coffee table.

"What is outrageous, Saka?" the voice of his companion asked him.

"Look at this!" Slamming the newspaper down again he pointed at an article which read: _"Straw Hat Pirates ransack Enies Lobby. Marine is powerless!"_

Admiral Sakazuki Akainu jumped to his feet and paced around in his office, while his companion and oldest friend read the article while drinking a cup of coffee.

"To believe that these imbecile pirate rookies managed something as this… HOW IN THE SEVEN SEAS COULD THEY OVERTHROW ENIES LOBBY?!"

The temperature rose dangerously due to Sakazuki's Logia fruit ability. His companion, however, was unfazed by that. Calmly the person put the newspaper down and sipped on the coffee before saying: "Calm down, Saka. Just be happy that Blackbeard brought Portgas D. Ace into our hands!"

Akainu huffed out and flopped back onto his seat, sighing: "I don't like that Blackbeard guy. No matter that he brought Ace here. I don't trust him as Shichibukai."

"Neither do I" his companion said, "But we should not rack our brains about him. The Strawhat is a far larger problem."

"Yeah, you are right, Sevi…" Sakazuki said finally, "Let's think about what to do with that brat."

Both fell silent. 'Sevi' stared at the newspaper showing the injured, but smiling Luffy. Akainu on the other hand glared at nothing in particular, but somehow his gaze wandered to his companion.

Admiral Sevothtarte, nicknamed Sevi by her colleagues and partners, was an extraordinarily woman. She appeared injured and broken years ago out of nowhere. The Marine picked her up and helped her back to her feet, and as thanks she joined their ranks. Her ruthless nature paired with a mysterious and incredible power resting within her allowed her to rise quickly in her rank, and nowadays she was one of the highest Admirals in the Marine.

Like he was called 'Red Dog' Akainu, her code name was 'White Justice'. Sevothtarte was mercilessly with everyone that broke the code of Justice, this was something Sakazuki always admired at her. But not only were her firm sense of justice, her calmness and loyalty admirable, she was also a beautiful, mysterious woman. Her skin was very pale, almost like porcelain, her eyes were of a very pale, icy blue and her hair was long and of the purest white. The way she carried herself and acted around others told of a woman that was familiar with power.

Only the cross-shaped scar above her right eyebrow and the burn scar on her left cheek fell out of the whole picture, but to Sakazuki it only made her more mysterious.

"You know that staring is impolite, my dear Sakazuki" Sevothtarte said and looked him into the eye.

Akainu laughed. "Sorry, Sevi. I was a little drifting" Then his face turned serious again and he asked: "Any idea how to deal with the Strawhat brat?"

"We have to raise his bounty, _again_" Sevothtarte said sighing, "And tell every single Marine to attack him and his crew on sight… therefore we also need some bounties for the rest of those idiots."

Sakazuki and Sevothtarte discussed about that matter a little while Sakazuki wrote down some notes. Eventually he said: "Good, that should work. Now to another problem…"

"Oh dear, yet _another_ problem?" Sevothtarte sighed again, "I swear, ever since Roger's death those filthy pirates are causing more trouble than ever before!"

"Please remind me that I send the guy who had the great idea of executing Roger in the public a Thank-you-_bomb_… of Doom."

"You have the notepad, my dear" Sevi said smirking.

"Oh, right…"

Suddenly there was a knock on the door and a young Marine entered. "Excuse me, Admiral Akainu… Admiral Sevothtarte… here are some reports about pirate incidents. The Celestial Dragons want them done soon."

"Urgh, those blasted wannabe rulers!" Sevi huffed. Sakazuki shook his head. The only reason why Sevothtarte was still 'only' an Admiral was, that she pissed the Celestial Dragons downright off.

"Give them to me" Sakazuki said. When he had the files in his hand he raised an eyebrow and asked the Marine: "The Kid Pirates? Are they so dangerous that an Admiral has to look at them?"

"Apparently they killed a World Noble" the soldier said shrugging. "May I am excused then?"

"Of course."

When the Marine was outside again, Sevi picked up a few files and read through the report.

"That 'Captain' Kid is truly a nutcase!" Akainu huffed out. "He and his men already killed a family of high-ranking World Nobles and caused heavy civilian damage. Not to mention that they destroyed several warships and killed many good Marines!"

"It seems as if they want to wage war against us…" Sevothtarte said matter-of-factly. Suddenly she stopped and asked: "Eustass… _MICHAEL_?!"

"What's the matter, Sevi?"

But the woman did not answer him. Blankly she stared at the description of that person. "Killed single-handedly the entire crews of three warships he subsequently destroyed… severely injured two Marine generals… thought to be responsible for the fire in the Noble's mansion…" Looking up she stared shocked at the other Admiral. "And thought to be the _younger brother of Eustass Kid_?!"

"Well…" Akainu said and looked at the photograph showing a boy with wild red hair and an eye-catching dragon tattoo, "…they do seem similar..."

"That's bullshit!" Sevi huffed. Sakazuki blinked at her in confusion. Normally she was way calmer than that. Locking eyes again with her colleague she said: "That boy is not called 'Great Powers' without reason… He is dangerous. He has to be brought to justice by all means!"

Raising an eyebrow Sakazuki asked: "Do you know him?"

"I do" Sevothtarte huffed and combed through her white hair. "And I can say for sure that he is _not_ Eustass Kid's brother… but no matter. Like I said, make sure that that boy is treated as a real danger, Saka. Like the Strawhat."

"…Really?"

"I mean it, Saka" Sevothtarte said as she turned to the door. "Hunt him down, but beware him."

"Where are you going, Sevi?"

"Out" was the short answer, "I need some air."

The door closed behind her and Sakazuki found himself wondering again. When did Sevi meet that child? He surely did not look old enough to have met Sevothtarte personally, and he was sure that she did not meet with anyone similar over the last twenty years she was here…

"Come to think of it…" Akainu mused, "… Sevi has not aged a single day… at least not that I can see it."

But he had other things to do. Grabbing a DenDen Mushi he phoned some of his men to order the production of new Bounty posters. And this time, the 'Great Powers' Eustass Michael would be amongst them.

-0-

Sevothtarte paced aimlessly through the halls of the Marine base. All around her were Marines diving out of the way, they knew of her mysterious power which allowed her to fight on par with the other three Admirals. No-one knew the source of her power for sure, but she did not have any Devil Fruit Abilities.

Eventually Sevi found herself outside the base. Without caring she let loose her powers and smashed a big rock with an invisible shock wave into dust. Some Marines yelped out and dove for cover, but Sevi ignored them.

"Damn it!" she cursed under her breath, "Why is _he_ here? Does he want to hunt me down?" But then again, everyone thought she died years ago… Sandalphon made sure that everyone was certain that Sevothtarte – the last tyrant of Heaven – was dead.

There was simply no way Michael could know that Sevothtarte was indeed still alive. "But why is he here then? Hunting demons? Or just randomly? And why did he join that Kid pirate?"

For a while she just stood there, glaring at the horizon. But eventually Sevothtarte turned around while shouting: "SHIT!" and went back towards her office.

This was an unexpected turn and brought back unpleasant memories.

Twenty years ago she was discovered as fake and was forced to flee heaven. But before that could happen she was attacked and ravished by the Seraphim Sandalphon and ultimately imprisoned by the rebellious army.

Imprisoned in a tower Sevothtarte could do nothing but wait for her sentence. However, the spirit of her lover visited her and Sevi followed him, jumping out of the tower into her sure death.

But Sandalphon worried about their unborn child she was carrying and helped her to escape. Beaten and injured Sevothtarte arrived in the world of the mortals below, and was found by the Marine. They patched her up and when Sevothtarte woke up they told her that her baby was miscarried and died. Stranded in the world of the humans, Sevothtarte felt oddly save for the first time after the coup. She became a Marine then, and stayed here.

Everything was perfect for almost twenty years. Nobody knew what she really was, and nobody could deal with her Astral Powers. She is feared amongst the pirates and admired by the Marines.

And now… now Michael, the Archangel of Fire and Leader of the Heavenly Armies… was here as well! Clenching her fist Sevothtarte decided to not let him return to Heaven in case he found out about her. He would not leave this world ever again…


	5. Chapter 5

"It's already over two months…" This thought went through a small redhead that night. Michael sat on the railing of the ship's bow and stared into the dieing sun with a pint of rum in his hand.

Over two months ago he had landed here right between those pirates. Even though he was wondering whether the others missed him and why nobody had yet looked after him, the angel had to admit that he was not a little homesick.

"Ey Mika!" Scarface called over to him, "Why don'tcha come here and celebrate with us? After all, it's your credit!"

Michael grinned for a moment. A few weeks ago those pirates – and especially the burly 'Scarface' – called him only a 'short brat'. But thanks to his stubbornness and his fighting abilities he achieved a certain reputation with those pirates. They even considered him the third in command after the Captain himself and Killer.

"Ya coming?"

"Yeah!" the small redhead answered, swung his legs over the railing and made his way over to the others. They had successfully raided the mansion of another Noble. Much to Kid's dismay, the Nobles had fled when they became aware of the pirate's presence. But they left a whole lot of cash behind, and the pirates took it as their own.

And that was a reason to celebrate.

And soon they would have another reason.

"Hey Mika!" Wire called, "Look at that! You got your very own, first bounty!"

The angel smirked, took the paper and sat down to read it. His smirk, however, died away when he read: "'Great Powers' Eustass Michael?" Looking up he furrowed his brow and repeated: "_Eustass_?"

Scarface shrugged. "They think ya the Captain's bro."

"And 80 Million Beli as beginner's bounty isn't so bad, either!"

"Yeah, but _Eustass_ Michael? Come on!"

"I think it sounds cool" Kid spoke up from where he approached the little party. Squatting down next to his smaller doppelganger he said to his men: "We'll arrive in Sabaody Archipelago in two or three weeks."

Hearing that, the other pirates began to cheer wildly. Sabaody meant a lot of booze, food and leisure activities. Not to mention that it was the gate towards the New World.

The party carried on. Soon the sun had disappeared entirely, allowing the moon to slip out of the clouds. It and the torches on the ship were the only light sources.

Michael had again retreated a bit. He enjoyed watching the others party, but not necessarily joining them. But he had nothing against some company, and so he did not look up when Kid sat down next to him.

"I still think 'Eustass Michael' sounds cool" he began. "That way everyone will think that you're my small…" Michael shot him a nasty glare and Kid corrected himself quickly: "…_younger_ brother."

"They think so anyways" Michael sighed out. "Remember that summer island with all the old people?"

"Oh yeah" Kid shuddered. "I've seen a lot of stuff, but an island full of _old people_… well that scared me."

"Hey, they always congratulated you on your 'cute brother'. I was the one whose cheeks were constantly pinched!"

Recalling that memory – Mika had to really force himself not to explode – Kid couldn't help but grin over his whole face.

They sat in silence and watched the small party. Eventually Kid said: "You know, I always wanted to have a brother like you… to think that I picked my wish brother up in a shabby bar…" He let his head drop against the railing and carried on: "I never had any siblings. I never knew my father and Mom died when I was still young. The closest thing of a sibling I ever had was Killer"

"The same Killer that kicks us into the guts for being idiots?"

"Yeah, just that guy. Don't worry, Mika, it's only his way to show you that he cares about you."

Michael stared at the blonde mane of the masked man. Then he said quietly: "I wish my brother had been like that… but he never showed me that he cared about me."

Kid raised a nonexistent eyebrow. "You have a brother?"

"A biological, yeah" Mika sighed, "But you'd hardly see the resemblance, even if we're twins. He's tall, powerful, charismatic… and look at me! I only share the massive fighting strength with him!"

Wordlessly Kid handed Mika another bottle of rum. Michael took a long gulp from it. Then he continued: "Everyone always looked at him, overlooking me. I was always in the shadow of that egoistical bastard, always ignored by him and by everyone else! Still I admired him. And then… from one day to the other… BOOM! He betrays me… us all and suddenly I am the one in the spot light!"

"Betrayal?"

"And to top it off: I was the one kicking him out. Do you know how that makes one feel?"

"Not good I suppose."

"Damn right" Michael growled and took another mouthful of rum. Kid was still impressed by the high tolerance of alcohol the smaller redhead showed – heck! Mika could drink even _him_ under the table if he wanted to!

Nevertheless Kid was still a pirate, but he was also a good friend to his crew, even if it did not look like that at first. So he patted the boy's head and said: "If you like, I can be your brother from now on."

Michael looked at him in confusion. "My brother?"

Kid chuckled. "The Marine's already thinking you were. And everyone reading the Newspaper probably, too. So who would it hurt if I … adopted you, eh, Mika?"

"My real brother, probably…"

"But he's an egoistical bastard as you said yourself. So forget about that douche bag already!"

"Yeah…" Michael admitted eventually, "I think that would be the best…"

"Fine!" Kid said grinning, "Now since that's settled, let's go back and join the others!" He got up to his feet and held out his hand to help the other up as well. "Come, bro. Let's celebrate your victory."

And Michael smiled sincerely for the first time in years. "Sounds good."

When he and Kid rejoined the other Kid pirates, Michael felt truly happy for the first time ever since he cast out his brother from Heaven.

He had been here for only little over two months, and still he felt as if he had found his true family. Not even Raphael could evoke that feeling in him, but those mortals could. So they continued to celebrate until deep in the night with their newest crew – no - _family_ member.

Nothing, not even his real brother, could have ruined this moment, and Michael hoped he would remember it until the end of all times.

-oo0oo-

What he did remember, however, was the murder hangover he had the next day. The sun shone brightly through the porthole of his room and Michael turned groaning away only to tumble out of the hammock.

That woke him up, at least.

Still, it took him solid ten minutes before he had finished his scrambling around and somehow managed to get to his feet. Staring up at the swinging hammock he decided that it was too difficult right now trying to get back into it for another round of sleep. So he simply staggered over to the door, wondering when and how exactly he had arrived here and had pulled out his shirt and boots.

For a moment he stopped by the door and wondered whether he should pull at least his shirt on again, but the throbbing, splitting headache said something else. And running around wearing only his black shorts was not unusual for a pirate gang consisting mostly of men – well, they did have a female chef, but the bitch 'Brynhild' was really dangerous and had probably more balls than most of Michael's angelic comrades. Not to mention that she was a hell lot more manly, standing about seven feet tall and had biceps that were as wide as Michael's torso. Her beard did not help at all.

Shuddering at the thought Michael decided not to pass by the kitchen in case the monster woman was preparing breakfast.

Instead he made his way to one of the common bathrooms for a face-full of cold water. That was what he needed right now.

-0-

When Michael exited the bath refreshed a few minutes later he ran into his new brother Kid.

"Mornin Mika…" the big redhead grunted. Obviously he too was suffering from a hangover – which was no wonder since he had challenged Mika in a drinking contest and lost.

"Still wasted?" Michael asked, noting how hoarse his own voice was.

"Probably…" Kid muttered, "I can't remember anything after the eleventh shot."

"I know what'll help you back on your feet, bro" Michael said grinning. Kid directed his bloodshot gaze at the smaller teen.

"How?"

"How about a little friendly sparring match, eh?"

"Sparring match?"

"That way you'll clear your head again. It works for me."

Kid groaned and massaged his throbbing temples. "Urgh. Without me… I'm too wasted for that."

The teen angel pouted a little before returning to a nasty smirk: "You are only afraid of losing again, Kid."

"Am not."

"Oh sure are!" His smirk widened as he crossed his arms behind his head and said in a sing-sung voice: "Who would've thought that the great Eustass Kid is afraid of losing to a little child?"

His teasing showed some effect and Kid stiffened, glaring at his little doppelganger. "Afraid?" he grunted, "Eustass Kid is not afraid of anything!"

"Yes. He's afraid of facing failure against a _chi-ild_!"

"AM NOT!" Kid roared, hangover forgotten, "Get ready to fight, you scrawny little bitch!"

* * *

**Author's Note:**

****Sorry, this chapter may come over crappy. But interpersonal relationships have to be in any good Fiction.


	6. Chapter 6

"LAND HO!" the pirate in the lookout shouted. Immediately the whole Kid pirate crew were on deck and looking eagerly over the railing.

"Look, men" Kid began, "Sabaody Archipelago!"

Michael stared in awe at the giant trees rising from beneath the waves in front of them. Never before had he seen trees of comparable measures. Debris carried there by the waves had accumulated to the point of creating solid land between the giant mangrove tree roots. There were other trees there and a lot of buildings.

"Sabaody Archipelago…" he echoed quietly.

"This is the end of the first half of the Grand Line" Killer explained, and Michael looked up to meet his masked gaze. "We will stay here for a few weeks until our ship is coated. When that happened, we can continue towards Mermaid Island."

"Mermaids?" Michael asked interested. "Like in fairy tails?"

"Just like that, Mika!" Scarface said laughing, "It's supposed to be Paradise!"

"Paradise, hah" the angel snorted, "I've seen the Paradise with my own eyes!" But nobody paid attention.

Soon the ship docked at one of the many harbours. "Okay, men, remember where we parked!" Kid barked. "Until the ship is coated, you have all shore leave!"

"YEAH!"

It did not take very long until nearly all pirates were off the ship. Even Brynhild had left her galley. Only a few had to stay behind to guard the ship and watch over the coating process. Luckily Mika was not amongst the unlucky ones.

But that was okay, too, since they'd stay for some time here. So even the ones staying aboard today would have a chance to get off another day.

"Men, don't forget who you are. We are the Kid pirates, don't buy any shit from anyone!" Kid shouted again, "Show 'em your pride!"

Killer added: "But remember: There's a large Marine base on this island as well, and we are close to Mariejosis _and_ Marineford to top. Don't cause too much trouble, okay?" Turning to the two redheads he continued darkly: "That means especially you two hotheads!"

"Yea, yea" Kid grunted while the crew chuckled a little. But eventually they started off into different directions.

The crowd disbanded. Michael checked on his sword again before turning back to Kid. "What are we going to do now, bro?" he asked.

"Dunno" Kid said shrugging, "But there's surely something to do around here. Let's check out this island! Oh, we can get us a few more men while we're on it. Can never hurt to have a few more guys when we go into the New World."

-oo0oo-

The days flew by. Until now they had not managed to get a ship coater since everyone available was busy with all the other ships. But the Kid pirates did not mind and simply enjoyed their prolonged stay here. Kid and Michael had managed to recruit a few more men to join their crew. Now they sat in a small bar in Grove 24 to go over the next steps.

Michael glared darkly at the bartender. Kid on the other hand laughed at his 'little brother'.

"Damn bartender!" Michael fumed, "Didn't want to give me booze!"

Patting the little pirate's red head Kid said grinning, "Don't worry. In a few years you'll be old enough to legally order the hard stuff. Until then you are stuck with … what is that? Orange juice?"

"Michael grunted in dislike. "Apple."

"Ah, I see."

"It doesn't only look like piss, it also tastes like piss, goddamnit!" Michael then proceeded to push the glass as far away from himself as possible while ignoring Kid's chuckling. Looking up to his 'big brother' he asked: "But let's switch the subject before I destroy this damn shop… what did you want to do tomorrow again?"

"Oh yeah, I read about 'Human Auctioning' that'll happen tomorrow in Grove 1."

"Auctioning? Like… selling?"

"Slave trades" Kid said nodding.

Michael quirked an eyebrow. "Since when are you interested in slave trades?"

"Ah, don't worry 'bout that Mika. I'll only want to check whether they have any cool guys there I could use in my gang. And perhaps break one or two Dragon necks."

Michael relaxed and smirked: "That's better. That's my Kid." His face turned serious again and he asked: "Should I accompany you?"

Kid shrugged. "I'd like your company, since you give a fuck about anything here… but Killer said you were bad company. So he won't allow you to come with us."

Michael chuckled. "You sound like a little kid that didn't get his toys."

"Could be. But you know what'll happen if we ignore Killer's orders."

"Oh yeah… he's going to kick us…" Some more persons entered the bar and Michael found himself a little freaked out. "God! Look at those freaky arms of that one guy! And his teeth… are those fucking piano keys?!"

Kid chuckled again. "And you thought you already saw everything, did ya, Mika?"

"He's got piano keys for teeth. _Piano_!"

"That guy's Scratchman Apoo" Kid eventually explained, "He's one of the 'Eleven Supernovae'."

"Ah, you're one of them, right?"

"Yop. Those are all the eleven Rookie pirates with 100 Million Beli Bounty or more" Proudly Kid added: "And I have the highest bounty of all those eleven!"

"Wonder why mine's still so fucking low…" Mika muttered.

"You're clearly underrated, bro." Kid said grinning. While he and Michael continued whatever they did – with Kid slipping his 'younger brother' his mug once or twice so the teen could get some booze, too – Apoo had caught sight of them.

"Eustass Kid and Eustass Michael… Apapapapapa… they really do look similar."

"I heard they also act similar, captain" one of his men piped up.

"Well, they are brothers, aren't they?" Apoo said and took his freshly ordered rum, "At least the Marine thinks so!"

Eventually Kid caught Apoo staring at the two of them. "Bastard…" he growled over to the taller Supernova, "Are you staring at us?!"

"Just surprised how such a cute boy…" Michael groaned at that. He hated being called 'cute'! "… could be related to an guy with such an ugly mug!"

At that Kid jumped up and began to summon forth his magnetic powers, causing uproar inside the bar. "THAT'S IT! PREPARE TO DIE YOU FREAKING FUCK!"

"Come at me, yo!"

Michael sighed out and reached for the hilt of his sword standing by his feet. Kid had already jumped at the other pirate and tore down a wall, but Apoo managed to escape somehow.

"It seems as if you really want to fight, Captain Kid" Apoo said matter-of-factly. "But because of all those Marine bases nearby we should postpone our little dispute until we are on the other side of the wall, shouldn't we?"

"You disgusting bastard…"

"Kid!" Michael threw in and came over, "He's got a point. There are a lot of Marines around us. Attracting attention right now would be stupid – even though I have no doubt that we could take 'em all on."

"Okay Mika…" Kid grunted. Glaring at Apoo again he shouted: "Next time we meet, I won't let you off so easily!"

"Apapapapapapa! I am waiting for that!"

"Let's get back to the ship" Michael urged, "I want something hard to drink and I doubt I'll get it here."

"Aren't you a little too short to drink hard stuff?"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SHORT?!"

"No Mika" Kid said and grabbed the shorted redhead in a headlock. "Remember what you just said to me."

"I don't care! Let's duke it out here and now you Freak!"

Apoo laughed, Kid sighed and Michael fumed. Kid noted the temperature rising again and before anything worse could happen, he smacked his hand hard over the little redhead's head and knocked him out. "Sometimes you are a pain in the ass, Mika."

"…Nice action, Captain Kid" Apoo said dryly.

"A Captain has to do what a captain has to do." Kid muttered, throwing the boy over his shoulder and went back to his ship.

It was needless to say that Michael did not talk to Kid the entire remaining day anymore.


	7. Chapter 7

The next day Kid left the ship together with Wire, Heat, Killer and two others to go to the Auction House. Michael was left behind with the order to get the remaining stuff they needed.

Soon the group reached the slave trading building and went inside.

"Look, Kid" Killer said and nodded towards a fat man with a bubble on his head, "It's one of the Celestial Dragons."

"I know" Kid grunted. "But attacking him here would only lead into a massacre. Let's wait till after the auction."

He snorted again at the sight of the fat Noble. "Compared to those guys, even us villains look positively humane! Only because scum like them controls the world, it is so screwed up!" His red eyes wandered over the rows of the people until they landed on another pirate with a white spotted hat. "Well, well. Look at that" he mused as the man turned around. "Trafalgar Law… I heard rumours about him and they weren't very pleasant…"

Law noted him, smirked and… flipped him the finger without even thinking twice. Kid's smirk widened and he continued: "His manner's aren't too good either."

In silence the pirates watched the slaves being sold one after the other. Then they declared they'd sell a mermaid, and this caught Kid's attention.

"SOLD!" the auctioneer shouted.

"See it as a metaphor how screwed up this world is" Kid snorted. "Well, there are no persons that interest me… so we can as well go and…"

Suddenly all hell broke loose.

A boy with a straw hat broke through the wall. "Isn't… that 'Straw Hat' Luffy?" The boy immediately recognised the mermaid and tried to run to her, but one of his weird friends jumped and grabbed him. His shirt tore away, revealing two additional pairs of arms.

"A FISHMAN!" someone shouted.

A shot was fired. The fishman went down, hit by a bullet. Everything was confused for a moment until… until the Strawhat smashed the face of the Celestial Dragon in.

Kid and Law smirked widely while everything around them erupted in panic. The Strawhat apologized for this by his Nakama, since he knew that there would be Marines and Admirals appearing now. Surprisingly his Nakama agreed with their captain. They went to fight against the men of the Noble while everyone else just ran for their lives.

"I'd like to say that I have nothing to do with this brawl right now" Kid said sneering to Killer.

Killer sighed out. "Oh boy. Why are we constantly getting into such situations?"

When the second Noble was crushed underneath the long-nosed pirate and his daughter tried to shoot the mermaid, there was suddenly a strange rush of power running through the hall. Everyone except for the pirates dropped unconscious at once.

An old man stepped out from behind the curtain. While everyone freed the remaining slaves, Kid raised an eyebrow at recognising the old man. "Dark King Silver Rayleigh, eh? What's a legend like him doing here?"

"They have the place is surrounded, Chief Kid" Heat suddenly said.

"Looks like we're all involved in this" Law said, still smirking.

"He, it seems as if the rumours were true and the Strawhat is truly insane" Kid said, "But I'm surely not sticking around to wait for an Admiral to appear!" Turning around he said: "We'll be going ahead then. Oh, and while we're on it, we'll do you a favour. We'll take out the guys in front, so don't worry your little selves."

Needless to say that Luffy and Law wouldn't buy that.

Because when they stepped out a minute later it were Kid, Law and Luffy against all the Marines that had them surrounded.

-oo0oo-

Further away, in Grove 25, were Michael and a few others. They just got back from buying more stuff they needed, and wanted to return to their ship.

"Whether Captain Kid is already back?" Scarface wondered. "I bet he got into a brawl again!"

"Killer's with him" Brynhild reminded him, "So he won't do anything rash!"

"You're right. Nobody's messing with Killer!" The pirates laughed for a while when Michael suddenly stopped them.

"Uh… Mika?"

"Silence!" he hissed and stepped behind a corner. The others followed him suit. "See those Marines?"

When everyone was silent, they managed to catch a few pieces of their conversation. But the main message made their blood boil.

"Kid and some others ran into some trouble down in Grove 1" Scarface growled, "Hey Mika, do you think we should go and…"

Suddenly they heard a sharp whistling sound and evaded just on time before the house they were hiding behind was blown into smithereens.

"HOLY SHIT!" Scarface shouted, "IT'S A SHICHIBUKAI!"

Michael widened his eyes and his fingers tensed around the hilt of his massive sword Kriel. "That… that's a Shichibukai?!"

"It's Kuma!" Brynhild grunted. "Damn, that is really bad!"

The giant Panda-like man turned to the Kid pirates. Michael's ears picked up a beeping sound before the giant said: "Eustass Michael. Bounty: 80 Million Beli."

"So he knows me, eh?"

Then the giant fired a laser from his mouth at them, but somehow the pirates evaded.

Michael drew his sword. "Mako!" he shouted, "Stay here and guard the stuff. Scarface, Brynhild, you are coming with me!"

The two nodded and followed their short leader into battle.

-oo0oo-

Back in Grove 1 the other six Kid pirates had managed to escape the Marines.

"We head back to the ship and leave this island!" Kid said, "As soon as everything calmed down, we'll return to resume our way to the New World."

Suddenly a laser came out of nowhere and dug through Kid's left leg. The pirate captain went down to a knee. In deep shock he stared up where a giant panda-like man had appeared there while his men called out afraid.

"Why…?!" Kid growled, "Why is a Shichibukai on this island?!"

-oo0oo-

Michael cursed rather violently and escaped another attack from the giant man.

"MIKA!" Brynhild shouted. She and Scarface were long since in no shape anymore to fight that thing.

"Damn it!" said boy cursed again. "I can't defeat him using my sword alone, no matter how much I try." He narrowed his golden eyes while the temperature began to rise quickly around him. "Looks like I have to use that…"

"Hey Mika!" Scarface shouted, "Mika! Are you alright?!"

"Yeah!" the small redhead shouted. "Listen, I'm going full power on this guy. Get away from here!"

"But…!"

"No Buts!" Michael shouted and flipped away before Kuma attacked him again. "I'll be alright. You see that you get away, otherwise I can't promise not to hurt you too!"

"What do you…?!"

"RUN! RUN AWAY AS FAR AS YOU CAN!" the boy shouted. The other three pirates were taken back for a moment, but suddenly they realised that their throats dried up.

A few tongues of fire appeared around the slim teenager, but he did not notice them. Quite the opposite actually.

"You… you…can control fire?!" Mako cried out in distress.

"Get away…" Michael snarled, "I will burn this guy to ashes!"

The three pirates yelped, turned tail and ran when a massive pillar of fire erupted around the teen. With flames blazing all around his body he jumped into the direction of the giant Shichibukai. On impact giant flames shot up around the two of them, and even from a distance they felt the immense heat radiating out from ground zero.

"Why the hell can Michael control fire?! Did he eat a Devil's Fruit?!"

"I don't know! When Killer kicked him off the ship yesterday, he could swim just fine!"

"Then how does he do that?!"

They had no answer. But the heat faded away quickly and when they stopped to turn around they felt their jaws dropping to the ground.

There where Kuma had stood was only a huge, smouldering crater. Houses on either side were burning and destroyed. The ground had turned into ashes from the heat of the fire storm. It was still radiating an immense heat out, too.

And in the middle of the crater stood Michael, unfazed and without a single singed hair on his body, on a massive, unshaped mound of molten metal. Only on the second look they realised it were the remains of the Shichibukai Kuma. Michael's fire literally cremated everything that was organic – blood had evaporated, flesh was incinerated entirely. All metallic objects inside the man were partially molten to the point where it was twisted into a shapeless blob.

Michael wiped a stray smear of ash away from his face and looked up to the others. Flames were still blazing around his body and behind his golden eyes when he shouted: "I'll go look for Kid and the others. You see that you get everyone else back to the ship. Prepare it to get away as soon as we return, understood?!"

"Michael… how did you…"

"Uninteresting! Did you understand my orders?!"

"AYE!"

"THEN GO, DAMNIT!"

"AYE!" Without asking again the three pirates ran back towards the ship.

Michael looked in disdain down to the molten scraps of the Shichibukai. "That… that was too easy" he muttered. Shifting his attention back into the direction of the other Groves the angel growled: "I'll have to look for Kid and the others… who knows whether they run into something similar."

Quickly he ran out of the crater and towards Grove 1. For a few moments he wondered whether he should simply use his wings and fly there, but dismissed this idea. It was already bad enough that Kid and the others would find out that he had pyrokinetic abilities. They did not need to know now that their newest member was an angel, too.

At least not now.


	8. Chapter 8

Kid growled angry. Two things annoyed him greatly right now. First off: No matter how many scrap metal and weapons he collected and sent against the Shichibukai, the guy simply got up as if nothing happened! The second thing ticking him off was the so-called 'Surgeon of Death'. Law had decided to butt into his fight.

But right now the Shichibukai was the larger problem. He could deal with the insubordinate captain of the Heart pirates later.

The red-haired pirate grimaced again, evaded another laser directed at him, dodged the flying debris and smashed his metal-enhanced fist into the Shichibukai.

Kuma did not flinch much, only stepped back once and swayed slightly. He attacked Kid, but the pirate evaded again. In the same moment Killer jumped and brought his blades down. They bounced off the man's shoulder like off metal.

"Damn!" Kid cursed when he and his first mate evaded another explosive blast from the Shichibukai. "How can the guy be so damnable robust?!"

"Curse later about that, Eustass-ya" Law called over, "Let's concentrate on bringing him down first! I can make an examination then."

"If something's left of him then!"

-oo0oo-

Michael ran through the Groves. Damn, where was the fucking Grove 1?!

Then he heard a lot of footsteps. Pulling his sword he whirled around and… froze up.

In front of him was a whole battalion of Marines. All of them had their weapons out and pointed at the small redhead. But that was not the reason why the angel froze.

It was something else.

"That… that's impossible…!" he gasped.

"Did I surprise you, Michael?"

"You… You are dead, Sevothtarte!"

The white-clad woman smirked at the smaller redhead. "As you can see, I became better."

Catching himself Michael brought his sword in front of him and hissed: "How can you still be here, Sevi?"

"Luck, I suppose" the woman said shrugging, "The Marine found me and patched me back up. And now I am one of the Admirals!"

Michael narrowed his eyes. "Admiral or not. If you try to stop me, I will kill you!"

"Such strong words… When you were still in the Army I would have believed your words, Michael. But you turned your back on them and became a pirate instead" Spitting the next words Sevothtarte carried on: "A lawless bandit, nothing more!"

"At least I have the freedom to do whatever I want, Sevi!"

Raising her pale eyebrow Sevothtarte asked: "Is that the reason you are here? Freedom?"

"I became bored without anything to do, Sevi!"

"And so you chose to become a pirate?"

"It's by far better than my old job."

"You only traded one commander for another, and you call this freedom!? Don't make me laugh!"

Michael glared at her. "It's more freedom than I ever had before!"

"I see…" the Admiral said. "Well, then everything's said, eh, Michael? APPREHEND HIM!"

Michael grabbed his sword harder. An explosion from nearby startled him for a moment, but he still fended off the Marine that tried to tackle him. "I have no time to play with you, Sevothtarte" he growled, "I've got to help my… nakama."

With that said he summoned forth a fire storm around him.

"FALL BACK!" Sevothtarte yelled to prevent her men from being turned into ashes. A big pillar of fire rose into the air, burning down everything around them. Remarkably, however, the men managed to get away with only minor burns.

"Admiral!" one of her commanders said, "Eustass Michael managed to get away!"

"Of course he did, imbecile!" Sevothtarte barked, making the man shrink away. "That was a decoy attack after all!"

"Admiral?" another asked, "Shall we give chase?"

Sevothtarte stared at a red feather burning away into ashes before she said: "No. We'll get him sooner or later. Spread out and find the Strawhat Pirates!"

-oo0oo-

Panting Kid stared at the seemingly dead Kuma. Law had – much to his dismay – saved his life once again.

"Why'd you interfere?"

"You overestimated you abilities, Eustass-ya" Law said nonchalantly.

Kid narrowed his eyes: "What?!"

"Did you really think this was one of the Warlords?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

The earth shook and a massive cloud of dirt rose when something huge appeared there. Law sighed and said: "It means just that, Eustass-ya."

"WHAT?!" Kid yelled shocked, "ANOTHER OF THEM?!"

"I heard about this" Law said matter-of-factly as the second Kuma turned towards them. Behind them he could hear their crews crying out in strangled fear and the shouting of the Marines. None of the pirates was still able to deal with yet another Kuma.

"CAPTAIN!" Both crews called out, "LET'S GET AWAY!"

"We have to get past this guy somehow!" Kid roared, "Damn it!"

"Any tricks up your sleeves, Eustass-ya?"

Then they all heard another voice: "CREATE DISTANCE, NOW!"

The arm of Kuma was hit by a fiery slash and… cleanly severed at the elbow. Kid and Law stared at the mechanic insides of the person before they looked up. Michael had appeared out of nowhere.

And the edge of his sword was blazing.

"I'll take care of that guy!" the small redhead shouted, "You take the Marines!"

"Mika?!" Kid yelled, "How in the seven hells…?!"

"I'll explain that later!" Michael replied and jumped towards the obvious cyborg, "Now go and create some distance or else you'll be caught in my flames!"

"Flames?!"

But as soon as those words left his lips, Michael summoned forth another giant pillar of fire. And like with the Kuma before he also turned this one into a mould of molten scrap metal.

"Okay, that's been taken care of" he muttered and ran over to the highly bewildered Kid and Law: "The path is clear, let's get out of here!"

"What… what was that?!" Kid asked confused, "Do you have any Devil Fruit Abilities I don't know of?"

"No… no Devil Ability…" Michael said grimacing, "Actually it's the opposite…"

"Fine!" Killer shouted and raced towards them, "We can talk about this later, let's get the hell away!"

Law smirked: "You have a quite intriguing brother there, Eustass-ya. Mind if I dissect him?"

Glaring at the other pirate Kid growled: "Yes. I do mind."

-oo0oo-

About one hour later the Kid pirates had reached the open sea. Behind them were several burning wrecks drifting, courtesy of Michael.

After the red-haired teen blew up the last pursuing warship with a directed orb of fire into the ammunition depot, it was time for a small questioning.

"What the fuck was that?!" Kid asked his 'small brother'.

Michael blinked at him and the other pirates- which stared at him in utter disbelieve. "Oh, you mean this?" he asked and summoned an orb of fire onto his palm. "Did you like it?"

"Absolutely!"

Killer continued: "Where do you get those powers from and why did you not use them until now?"

Michael shrugged. "No reason to use until now. If everyone knew to what I am able, nobody would want to fight me anymore, and where would be my fun then?"

"Hmm… reasonable…"

"That does not explain how you can control fire in the first place, though."

"…How can our Zombie-doc spit fire, eh? Same thing" Michael ruffled through his bright red hair and added: "I've been born with it. I'll explain it detailed once I feel that the right time had come, until then… just accept it as something other than a Devil Fruit, okay?"

Kid tilted his head slowly before breaking out in a grin. Turning to Killer he said beaming: "I told you the kid's got talent!"

Killer sighed. "Okay. You were right. For once."

"What are we going to do now?" Wire asked then.

"We're keeping our heads low until the coast is clear again" Killer said, "Then we're coating our ship and go to the New World. Until then…" he glared over the horizon. "There's a small island supposed to be nearby. I guess we can stop there until the Marine calmed down a bit… would be bad if an Admiral found us…"

"I ran into one" Michael growled darkly. "Sevothtarte."

"The White Justice?!"

"I heard she's fierce and an absolutely no-go for a pirate. How did you escape?"

"Caused an explosion to divert her from me" Michael said matter-of-factly. "Even though I could have fought her, but saving your asses was more important at that time."

"I don't want to belittle you or anything…" Heat said, "But the White Justice is a really powerful Admiral. It's said she got a strange power that makes her dangerous even for a Logia-User."

"I know" Michael said and turned away, "She got her powers for the same reasons as I do – only hers are not as… flashy… as mine. Oh, and those powers are very different to Logia-based ones. I can _control_ fire – can never be hurt by it - but I can't _turn_ into fire."

"Same… reason?" Killer asked, "Sevothtarte was born with similar powers like you do? What do you mean?!"

"Later. I'm tired." With that the small redhead disappeared under deck, leaving the still confused pirates behind. Killer made a silent vow to figure this out.


	9. Chapter 9

Sevothtarte sat in her office and glared gloomily at nothing in particular. The meeting with her fellow angel on Sabaody shook her to her core, even though she did not show it to anyone. It was something she learned long time ago, when she was still a mere scientist in Heaven's greatest laboratory.

But here in her own little realm, her office, she allowed the shock to come out.

"This is bad…" she eventually muttered, more to herself than to anyone else, and unaware of the fact, that she just said it out loud. "He now knows that I am still alive… and even if Michael did not look for me consciously, he did find me…"

The White Justice got back to her feet and began to pace through her spacious office. She had to get rid of Michael before he even considered returning to Heaven and telling the others about her survival. Sevothtarte knew that alone her survival would make her the most wanted criminal in the probably new government of Heaven.

Not to mention that Sandalphon would know as well, if he was still alive that is. But alone the chance that he was still around … well, it made her truly afraid.

However, since Michael was obviously a pirate now, Sevothtarte had all possibilities to get rid of the boy. She was a high-ranking Marine after all, and had all the power of the Marine behind her. And even if the Marine could not stop him, there were still loads of other pirates and bounty hunters around for the dirty work.

With a plan in her head Sevothtarte got up and went to a DenDen Mushi to make a call.

-0-

A few hours later her solitude was abruptly ended when Sengoku came into her Office with a memo in his hands.

"Sevothtarte!" he shouted, "What reason would you have to raise a rookie's bounty to more than double the amount?!"

"You mean the bounty of Eustass Michael?" Sevi asked bored, "I figured it would be only adequate… seen as he is the supposed brother of a major criminal. Oh, and he single-handedly destroyed two Pacifista-type war cyborgs and injured ten Marines!"

"He… he WHAT?!"

"Injured ten…"

"NO!" Sengoku barked, pale as a sheet of paper. "How could a teenage brat destroy _two _Pacifista?!"

Sevothtarte smirked. Now she had the Fleet Admiral where she wanted. "I said the boy was dangerous."

Sengoku fell into a comfy couch bordering a small coffee table. "But dangerous enough for such a raise?"

"The child has a mysterious power not unlike my own" Sevothtarte said again, and Sengoku blanched notably, since he knew to what Sevi was able. "Only his is more _destructive_ than mine."

The Fleet Admiral took a deep breath. "Okay. I understand. I'll send it into the press right away."

Sevothtarte smirked to herself. With a new bounty of this dimensions would mean that every bounty hunter from here to Raftel was after his head. And the higher the bounty, the larger the threat they posed and the more determined the Marine would hunt them.

Pleased with herself the White Justice leaned back. "So, Mika-_chan_… what will you do now?"

-oo0oo-

What Michael did right now was sleeping. They had arrived on a small, rocky and deserted island a few days ago to wait out the Marine's rage. Out of reasons he did not understand the other Kid pirates had not yet asked again where their Mika had such tremendous powers from.

He did not mind, though. It meant more ease for him. At least he was now able to utilize his powers without the others staring at him. Yesterday he had fried a giant Sea King to which Scarface jokingly said it was 'the largest Barbeque' they ever had.

It was still damn early – for a Kid pirate at least – and the angel blinked, looked out of the porthole before turning around again for another round of sleep. He was already drifting off to a slight snooze when he suddenly heard a high-pitched scream that sounded suspiciously like Mako.

"Urgh…" he groaned, "Did the idiot find another rat in his shoes or what?"

Somehow Mako's scream attracted the attention of the entire crew, or at least Michael had the feeling it did, since several pairs of feet were now tromping into the direction of the mess. For a moment everything was silent, and Michael wondered whether he should get up and look too, but the laziness kept him rooted into his hammock.

Only then did he hear the shout from his optional brother that said: "MIKA! COME HERE AT ONCE!"

That woke him up. Grunting in displeasure the slim redhead untangled himself from his blankets, stumbled out of his hammock and landed face-down on the floor before pushing himself up and yelling: "YEAH! I'M COMING"

Since that sounded urgent Michael did again not care about putting on a shirt or longer pants, and ran out of his room wearing again only shorts. The blue dragon tattooed onto his skin was clearly visible now.

Michael jumped into the mess where everyone – Kid and Killer included – stood around one of the tables and looked down into a Newspaper in front of them.

"What's the matter?" the teen asked, stifling a yawn. "Some Sea King again?"

"No…" Killer began stuttering. Finally he took a paper out of the Newspaper and showed it to the redheaded teen. "THIS!"

Michael raised an eyebrow. "This seems to be a bounty poster."

"Yeah, and it's yours" Brynhild muttered. "Really dear, what did you do to more than _double_ your bounty?"

Michael finally blinked and took the bounty poster. "Wow" he muttered, "_200 Million_ Beli?"

"That's more than I have!" Killer said, positively rattled. "What did you do?"

The teen shrugged. "Not much. Sevi's apparently afraid of me."

Heat raised and non-existent eyebrow: "Afraid? I heard the White Justice wasn't afraid of anything. She's an Admiral after all!"

Yawning again Michael explained: "First off: Remember what I did to those weird cyborg-thingies."

"You burnt them all into cinders…"

"Exactly" As monotone as one reading from an anatomy book the teen continued: "Second: She's afraid of me returning home and telling the others that she's still alive; because for all they know she's dead. And that's good."

"Dead?" Killer asked, "Why's that?"

"She posed as a tyrant back home for years. But then there was a rebellion and Sevi was exposed, stripped of her rank and imprisoned in a tower. From there she jumped into her death… at least everyone thought she was dead."

"But in reality Sevothtarte survived and came here it seems…"

"Obviously…"

"So Sevi's indeed afraid of you?" Scarface asked again in disbelieve. "Don't get me wrong… but you are surely not looking… intimidating…"

Michael shot him a deadly glare. "I was pretty feared back home, believe me, Scarface. No only because of my powers and attitude… but also because of my biological brother…" He sighed and continued: "When he betrayed us all, everyone feared I'd follow him. That's why everyone was afraid of me back home – with the exception of Rapha of course."

For a while everything was silent. Until Kid said: "Well… I guess that explains it…"

"Fine" Michael said yawning again, "Then I can go back to bed, can I?"

They allowed the boy to retreat again. However, Killer thought wondering: "But Sevothtarte is here for already 20 years as far as I know… Mika's not looking old enough to have met her in person… except he is older than he looks." Narrowing his eyes under his mask, Killer pondered: "I've got to ask him about that some time!"


	10. Chapter 10

The scaffold was set up, the delinquent – Portgas D. Ace – had reached the execution platform a few hours ago and the DenDen Mushi were broadcasting the upcoming execution. Sevothtarte had her place in front of the scaffold together with her three male companions Akainu, Kizaru and Aokiji.

In short: Everything was ready to wipe out the last of Gol D. Roger's blood off this earth.

And still something seemed off.

Sengoku just finished his description of who the delinquent truly was.

Borsalino leaned over to his female colleague. "Ohhhh. You seem to be distracted by something. Am I riiight, Seeeevi?"

She shot him a deadly glare. "Stop talking like that, Bors, or I will make you talk correctly!"

"Listen to Sevi-chan!" Aokiji laughed, "She's a deadly bitch!"

"Gee, thanks Kuzan, asshole."

"Children please!" Akainu grunted. "What's the matter, Sevi?"

"This… is running too smooth" she said, her pale blue eyes swept over the horizon. "I mean it's the fucking son of Gol D. Roger up there, and a high-ranking pirate to top. So why's none of his friends here…?"

In that moment a cannon blast tore apart the tense silence. Out of nothing about fifty of pirate ships appeared in harbour, led by the flagship of the Whitebeard Pirates: The Moby Dick. And on the bow stood Whitebeard himself, the last big Yonko from the old times.

"You had to say something."

"…Sorry."

Whitebeard struck out at nothing – or so Sevothtarte thought. In truth he struck the air, shattering it like glass and sending the Marines to their knees.

"Such power" the White Justice thought surprised, "It is comparable only to the most powerful Seraphim!"

The whole island shook and a massive wall of water came rushing towards them.

"It seems as if the old geezer created a Tsunami with that shockwave just now…" Sakazuki grunted. "No matter. Kuzan! Take care of this!"

"Sure thing" Aokiji said and got to his feet. Activating his powers he used a technique called 'Ice Age' and froze the mountain of water solid.

"No matter who wins…" Sevothtarte growled, got up and drew a slim, silver sword. "The current age of piracy will end right here!"

It was then that all hell broke loose. Pirates swarmed from their ships which were under constant firing by the Marines. With the Vice Admirals joining the fight the frozen harbour turned into a true battlefield.

A few moments later the Shichibukai began to make their moves. Mihawk narrowed his eyes and said: "I would like to see the difference between Whitebeard and me…" and slashed the whole top of the icy mountain away. The mass of ice fell down, but one of Whitebeard's men caught the whole thing and hurled it away. In the same moment Kizaru appeared over the battlefield and fired at Whitebeard – only to have himself interrupted by Second-in-Command Marco. Much to Sevothtarte's surprise the man transformed into a Phoenix to face off with the Admiral.

"A Phoenix?" Sevi asked, "The most sacred beast created by God is fighting on the side of the lawless pirates…?!"

"Let it go, Sevi" Akainu said while he blasted the massive ice mountain coming straight at them using his Magma powers, "Go, you are needed down there."

"Right."

"Go and light the candles on a birthday cake instead, you magma brat!"

Sevothtarte growled at hearing her friend called like that and sent out a shockwave not unlike Whitebeard's, only her attacks were not only crushing, but also cutting, causing internal and external damage at once.

She was just about to attack 'Diamond' Jozu, not even once doubting that her attacks could even smash his indestructible form, when she sensed something and dove out of the way before a giant foot could smash her. Little Oars Jr. had arrived and begun to tear everything apart.

"Fall back!" one Vice Admiral shouted, "We have to enforce our defences!"

"Fools!" Sevothtarte retorted, smashing two or three pirates away, "I am your defence!" Suddenly she noticed a movement out of the corner of her eye and raised an invisible shield just before some Marines and Pirates around here were knocked back by no-one else but Shichibukai Boa Hancock.

"Damnit, Hancock!" Sevi shouted enraged, "Why are you attacking the Marine?!"

"I may have agreed to fight in this war, Sevothtarte," Boa countered acidly, "but I never sided with you!"

"Why you…!"

But an Ursus shock from Kuma and a following shadow-spear attack from Moriah felled Oars and halted their little dispute. Sevothtarte whirled around and attacked some more Pirates.

The whole war became even more confusing when suddenly one of Whitebeard's men began to attack his own people, obviously controlled by the creep Doflamingo.

"Pirates are evil!? The Marines are righteous!? These terms have always changed throughout the course of history...! Kids who have never seen peace and kids who have never seen war have different values! Those who stand at the top determine what's wrong and what's right! This very place is neutral ground! Justice will prevail, you say!? But of course it will! Whoever wins this war becomes justice!" the pink-feathered man said laughing. Sevothtarte may not like him much, but he did have a point.

However, something happened then. A ship suddenly fell from the sky and from it appeared a young boy with a straw hat.

"The Strawhat?!" Sevi thought surprised, "I thought he died in Impel Down?!"

Quickly the boy and his formerly imprisoned allies sided with Whitebeard and Sevothtarte knew immediately: This was far from over.

It had just begun.

-oo0oo-

The wind swept over his tattooed boyish face, ruffled his fiery red hair and played roughly with the slim braid and the cross-shaped earring. Michael narrowed his eyes as he approached his chosen brother.

Without beating around the bush he asked: "Where are we going? This is neither the direction of Mermaid Island nor that of Sabaody."

Kid smiled for a moment. "I'm still impressed with your uncanny ability to always know where you are."

"My sense of direction is of no matter" the teen retorted. "I repeat. Where are we going?"

"Marineford."

"The main Marine island?!" the boy shouted, "Why there?!"

Kid's smirk returned. "We… are going to war, Mika" Looking down to his little brother of choice, he added: "I think you are familiar with that topic."

"You have no idea _how_ familiar…" Michael said quietly, almost inaudible. Kid raised his non-existent eyebrow. But Mika did not say anything further. He was just staring out to the sea and his fingers twitched as if wanting to clench around the cross-shaped hilt of his heavy sword.

Nobody said anything afterwards.

-oo0oo-

More battleships arrived in the battlefield of Marineford. Sevothtarte allowed a small smirk to cross her face when she recognised Sentomaru and a large group of Pacifista with him. The tides were turning once again.

Since the pirates were scattered throughout the whole ford, they could not be taken down all at once. And this made it worse.

Sevothtarte noted a movement and brought her sword in front of her in the moment Luffy tried to hit her. "So you are the son of Dragon…" she growled. "Pleased to meet you finally from face to face."

A short but hard battle followed and Luffy had to acknowledge that this woman was indeed powerful. But then again, she was an Admiral.

He did managed to trick her, though, but before he could land an hit, Kizaru appeared and kicked him away.

"That could haaaaave huuuuurt, Sevi-chan" he swooned.

Sevothtarte growled at him and retorted: "Can't hurt more than the hell through which I went before I came here, Kizaru."

Both turned to the fights still continuing all around them. Vista managed to stall the best swordsman Mihawk and Moriah faced off with another of Whitebeard's men. Somewhere in the distance was a sandstorm raging, courtesy of the ex-Shichibukai Crocodile. And Oars lay bleeding and almost dead on the ground after being attacked by Doflamingo.

"Let's not dawdle our time here" Sevi eventually snarled, "Stop the Strawhat!"

**Author's Note:**

I won't retell the whole Whitebeard War, don't worry. If you still want to know what happened… look at the Manga.


	11. Chapter 11

The blast of heat rushing over the battlefield startled Sevothtarte for a split moment, as she thought Michael had appeared.

The fact, that it was Ace in reality did not calm her in any way, though.

"Impossible!" she growled, "How could the rubber brat make it there and free Portgas?! We tried everything to stop him!"

Ace and Luffy began to make their getaway when Sevi jumped after them, shouting: "You won't get away!" Using her mysterious powers she sent a barrage of shockwaves after them, felling Marines and pirates left and right but did not manage to hit the two teenagers.

Then her world shook and Sevi fell to the ground. Newgate had summoned a great deal of his strength and created a massive earthquake which tore apart the already heavily damaged Marineford. Cursing her own pledge of not unfolding her wings Sevothtarte smashed a few rocks threatening to tumble onto her. Enraged she watched the retreating backs of the two escapees.

"Don't worry, Sevi" someone growled next to her.

"Saka?"

"I will not let them escape!" With that said her colleague became Lava and disappeared into the ground. When he appeared again, he shouted: "Whitebeard his only a failure from a lost era!"

That however caught the flame boy on the wrong foot and he fell into a shouting match with Akainu which ended with him attacking the Admiral. Akainu's powers proved too much, however, and he sent the young man flying away.

Luffy wanted to help his brother, but his knees buckled and he fell to the ground. Akainu shifted his attention away from Portgas and turned towards the fallen younger brother.

But before he could kill him, Ace jumped into the way, taking the whole force of the attack with his own body.

Sevothtarte felt the life rushing out of the boy. At their feet the Vivre Card burnt away into nothing.

-oo0oo-

"Whitebeard is dead" Heat said silently.

The Kid pirates watched the horizon and the heavily damaged gates of Justice. Under the sea Killer noted a yellow speck moving quickly away – Law's submarine containing the severely injured and heavily traumatised Luffy.

"I guess it's all over now."

"Over?! Like hell!" was shouted and the pirates turned around to see their captain and his choice brother stalking on deck. Kid's insane grin had returned to his pale features, distorting his face to an inhuman grimace. "There's a new force on the loose! That Blackbeard guy is not taken lightly!" He slammed his foot down on the grotesque skull on the bow and said: "The New World is ruled by the four Yonko Whitebeard, Big Mom, Kaido and Red Shanks – but with one of them dead, the balance is tilted and no-one can predict the consequences!" His smirk widened again and he continued: "This is the beginning of a new era! One unlike anyone had ever seen! This war… is _far_ from over!"

"But… but Captain…" Mako piped up, "I know I'm not one to talk… but do we really have to participate in this war…? All these pointless murders… why can't we end this war without all the deaths?"

"He. Don't you know anything?" Michael snorted. "Pointless murder is _all_ what war is about!"

Mako stared at him in utter shock. "You talk pretty uncaring for someone who looks too young to have participated in a war… let alone too young to be part of any army." Killer said sneering.

With a dark sneer Michael replied: "Believe me Killer… I've had my fair share of war."

"There's nothing for us to get here today. Let's return to Sabaody as long as everyone's still cleaning up!" Kid barked. Slowly the crowd disbanded to set sail again.

-oo0oo-

"Damn that Redhair!" Akainu grunted. "If he hadn't interfered, we'd had gotten the Strawhat brat and all of the other pirates!"

"Newgate and Portgas are dead, see it from that side" Sevothtarte said scolding. "Besides, this fight would have carried on _forever_!"

"Look around, Sevi!" the Admiral growled, "Look at all this destruction!"

"I'm afraid rebuilding Marineford won't be cheap" she sighed. "Still, it would have been a lot more destruction if Redhair Shanks hadn't intervened."

"Sure. Because I would have destroyed everything!"

"I was not talking about you, Saka" Sevothtarte retorted, "There was another one nearby, and that person would have destroyed everything as collateral damage."

Raising an eyebrow the big man asked: "Are you talking about Blackbeard?"

"No, not that douche bag!" Sevi chuckled, "He'd never stands any chance against us. No, I was talking about someone else" Her face turned hard again when she said: "Michael."

"Eustass Michael? The Kid pirates were here?"

"Trafalgar Law was here, so running into some more of the Supernovae wouldn't be so strange, don't you think?"

"And why did you fear that the little brat came here?"

"If he was in Monkey D. Luffy's place, nobody would have survived, Marine or Pirate" She sighed and sat down on some rubble. "When that boy gets really worked up, one can only dig in and pray. But for now it's over."

-oo0oo-

Weeks later there was an article in the newspaper. "'Straw Hat Luffy lives and rang the bell at Marineford 16 times for a new age'" Turning to Killer the captain of the Kid pirates asked: "What's this Ox bell?"

Killer looked up to the large redhead and explained: "The Ox Bell is a holy bell that used to be on an old warship, the Ox Lloyd. It is the Marines custom to ring the bell 8 times when a year ends and another 8 times when the new one begins. But this is the wrong time, so one could say Monkey D. Luffy just ended one age and began a new one." Sighing deeply Killer continued: "So that means…"

"Killer" Kid said smirking. Pointing to the shaking Michael next to him he said: "Don't forget that Mika there hates long explanations."

"Oh, how could I forget that?" Killer said dryly, "Last time he fell into his 'Kanji Madness' he blew up the galley!"

"Anyways" Kid said. Looking down again to the photo of Luffy he began to laugh, crumbled the newspaper and threw it to the ground. "Hahahaha! The Kid gets on my nerves! His battle may have put him ahead of us other Rookies, but I'm not going to let him keep running like that!"

"Captain?" Scarface said as he came to join them, "We have caught the other pirates."

"Good, let's take a look at them" Kid said and got up. Mika followed him like his shadow. In front of them were the captured members of another pirate crew. Kid smirked and asked: "So, what are we going to do about you guys, hmmm?"

"Please!" one of them cried, "Please I beg of you! Let us return to the Paradise!"

Kid's smirk faltered. "Paradise?!" His glare darkened as scrap metal started to fly all around him. "You Cowards!"

Ignoring the pained screams of the pirates he carried on: "If you are not prepared to die here, then _stay the hell out of this sea_!"

Without a visible expression Michael stared at the now crucified pirates. Turning to Kid he said: "That was a nice touch with the crosses, Kid."

"Ya like it, bro?"

"At least you know what it means to enter the New World – besides freaky nature phenomenon..." Mika eventually said, turning away from the other pirates. "And you know that mercy for anyone except your own crew only leads to your downfall. Only the strongest will survive here" His smirk returned: "It seems as if I taught you the art of war myself."

"And we are still in a war" Kid added, "Until we reach the One Piece!"


	12. Chapter 12

Months had passed again. Michael did not know how many since the constant fighting kept him busy. They had gone through several other pirate crews by now; each single was stronger than the ones encountered before. But also the unexplainable weather changes and the beasts of this sea had taken their toll. Kid had lost some of his men, but found twice as many new members on the various islands or recruited them from other pirate crews.

It was like Michael had predicted. Only the strongest would survive here, and the Kid pirates were surely no weaklings themselves. And the three strongest ones were without doubt Kid, Killer and Mika.

But right now it was a calm day for once. The pirates discovered a small albeit habited island on the horizon and were planning to land on a hidden bay opposite the village. It was not necessary for the people living there panicking because of a pirate ship in their harbour. Besides, they could call the Marine, and if they learned one thing here, it was that the Marines here were not to be compared to the ones on the other side of the Redline.

It was still only fighting, but Michael did not know of anything else. Angels were – firstly and foremost – a species created for war, and Michael was the worst of all since he was the _Archangel_ of war. However, fighting humans was so different to fighting demons and proved a challenge even for him.

Demons attacked straight and directly, always charging at their targets right away. They were easy to predict, and when one did not kill them right away they became really dangerous.

Angels fought similar to them, but they had a certain pride which shortened the fights with them. Once beaten, an angel will admit defeat. The fallen angels on the other hand used their mass-produced minions to fight and they utilized cheap tricks – one of the reasons why Michael simply loved fighting a fallen angel, they were a challenge.

But humans were different.

At first glance they fought like angels or demons, only weaker. Most of them even used cheap tricks or surprise attacks to finish their enemies. However, one thing they all had in common. If you did not break their spirit, they will simply get back to their feet and continue to fight, even if they have no chance.

This was what Michael never understood. Even the Messiah was like that, always getting back to his feet and continuing without fail. Why did humans push themselves so?

"What'cha thinking about, Mika?" Kid asked as he approached the small redhead.

"Reflecting life" Turning to Kid he asked straightforward: "Why do humans continue to fight even if they're beaten down and defeated?"

Kid shrugged and said: "It's what humans are, I suppose." Mika blinked at his 'big brother'. But Kid was unaware of the small redhead's troubles and said: "I've got to go back and compose a grocery list. God… reading Heat's handwriting will be a pain again… What is it with docs and terrible handwriting?"

Michael laughed now as well. "And I always wondered why Rapha had such a terrible handwriting!"

"Rapha… do you mean your buddy Raphael you've been talking about?" Kid asked, "I thought he was a womanizer?"

"Yeah, and a doctor" Michael said, smiling a little at recalling his best friend. "A damn fine one, too. I can't recall how often he patched me back up again!"

Kid grinned at that. But eventually Killer called for him to return to the grocery list. Sighing Kid retreated. Michael stayed on the bow of the ship and looked over the exceptional calm waves.

The ship just passed past a small rocky island in front of the main island. The angel looked at it bored, noting several large cavities inside, large enough for a ship or two.

Later on he would remember this, not yet knowing how important it would soon be.

-oo0oo-

"Trafalgar Law is here as well?!" Mika called out after almost choking on his drink.

"He is" Killer said. He, Kid and Mika sat in a small café in town. By now they had stayed for three days and managed to get pretty much everything they needed. The villagers still did not know that they were indeed pirates and thought them to come from one of the other ships in the harbour.

Michael remembered the so-called 'Surgeon of Death' vaguely. Always really, _really_ calm, bored or tired facial expression and a weird Devil Fruit Ability. The angel did not know why, but somehow the man had given him the creeps. "Wasn't he the one that rescued that Strawhat brat back in Marineford?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's him" Killer said.

"Pah!" Kid snorted, "The guy became a friggin' Shichibukai!" But he quickly calmed down and put his best 'rape face' on again and said: "No matter. Just gives me another reason to kill him off."

"Is that why we are still here?" Michael asked.

"Yep" Killer said, "According to the last article (which was about four weeks old), Trafalgar left the same island we visited a few weeks ago. Since the only possibility for restocking is this island, he'll come here in one or two days as well."

"And then you want to fight him if I understood you right."

"I'll break off his feet and stick 'em to his damn hat!"

Killer rolled his eyes under his mask and Mika chuckled at that. But suddenly he sensed something.

"Ey Mika, what are you looking at?"

"Sorry, it's just…" Narrowing his eyes he concentrated harder until: "Oh! Perhaps we should leave now."

Confused the other two pirates looked at him. "Why?"

"I sense Sevi nearby."

"Sevi? Like in Admiral Sevothtarte?"

"Yes" Michael answered, "I can sense her presence, and she's closing in."

Kid sighed. "So no killing Trafalgar then?"

"Postpone that" Killer said and stood, "Let's get back to the ship. I'd rather not run into an Admiral."

"We can take her!" Mika retorted pouting. "But why is she coming here anyways?"

"I can only suspect that one of the villagers recognised us and called the Marine" Killer grumbled, "We have everything we need anyways, and Sevothtarte is one extremely dangerous bitch. So let's get the hell away from here."

Growling Kid and Michael obeyed. Quickly the three of them split up and moved through the village to find their remaining crew before starting back to their ship.

The walk through the lush woods and fields of the island was long, and took the pirates almost two hours. But they knew the way by now and soon they found themselves at the hidden bay where their ship lay. The remaining crew got up in surprise when they saw the others moving through the tree line and towards them.

"Captain?" Wire asked unsure, "Is something the matter?"

"Trouble" Kid replied, "Mika said that Sevi is closing in on us."

"We should set sail right away, even if it should turn out to be false alarm" Killer added, "Men! Get the ship ready! We set sail!"

For a moment the pirates were confused and shocked, but then their typical routine kicked in and everyone stowed the remaining stuff away and got on board. Even though they worked quickly, Michael felt it was still too slow.

And he should be right after all.

In the moment the last pirates went on board, Mako cried out: "SHIP HO! IT'S A MARINE BATTLESHIP!"

And Scarface added: "An' a big one, too!"

"That's not good" Killer growled, "They cut off our escape route. MIKA!"

"Already on it!" the small redhead growled and launched a fire orb at the ship. But before he hit an invisible shield appeared and stopped the attack.

Michael huffed: "Obviously Sevi's indeed on board. Otherwise that ship would have been turned into burning splinters."

"Seems as if we have to fight after all" the captain grunted. "Okay, get ready to fight men!"

Hurried steps echoed across the deck. Kid chose a few to fight with him on shore while the rest was supposed to incapacitate the battle ship with the cannons. But also the battleship emptied its contents. Marines swarmed onto the shore and ran towards the pirates. And with them was a white-clothed woman. 'White Justice' Sevothtarte.

She stopped her Marines about 20 feet in front of the pirates. Kid did the same with his men.

"I will ask only once for you to lower your weapons and surrender yourselves to the Marine!" she said.

"Dream on, Bitch!" Kid shouted, beginning to summon forth his powers.

"If that's what you want, we will use force" Sevothtarte said. She narrowed her eyes for a splint moment and suddenly unleashed a shock wave attack at the pirates.

But before it could hit them, a wall of fire blazed up in front of them and absorbed the attack. Kid smirked at the surprised Marines. "We won't go down that easily, Sevi" he said.

Michael stepped up to his choice brother, standing slightly in front of him. "Hello Sevi-_sama_" he said sneering, while pronouncing the 'sama'. "Last time we met I had no time to kick your ass, but now you're not leaving me any chance."

"Ah, Great Powers Michael" Sevothtarte replied smirking. Then her face fell and she said icily: "Yours was the last face I expected to see. Can you imagine my shock when I saw your picture in our reports?!"

"So I was right!" Michael said grinning, "You _are_ afraid of me! Hah! The great Sevi-sama is actually afraid of one boy!"

"Not more than the others" she countered, "But I do know to what you are able and that you killed some of my messengers."

"Did that surprise you, Sevi?" Michael asked nonchalantly, "Everyone in Yetzirah knew that I was able to do such… misdeeds. Laws never stopped me."

"True. They never stopped you. I think this is a little courtesy of … _that abominable twin brother of yours_." Michael blanched notably.

"_Leave Lucifel out of this!_" he hissed now angrily, and the temperature rose extremely around him, forcing Kid and the other pirates to create some distance between them. "You know nothing of my relationship to him!"

"Don't underestimate me, Michael" she said coldly, "I know everything. After all… you were my _subordinate_."


	13. Chapter 13

"Subordinate?" Killer thought shocked, "Mika worked for Sevothtarte?" _'At least that would explain a lot… except for, when exactly did he work for Sevi?'_

The silence of this confused moment was the worst of all. Michael glared at Sevothtarte while the pirates looked in utter shock from their 'Small Captain' to the 'White Justice' and back. Even Kid seemed to be lost for words.

It was Mika who broke the silence after what seemed an eternity.

"Subordinate? Don't make me laugh, Sevi" he said, his voice barely a hiss. "I was always fed up with your stupid endless meetings and councils. Why do you think I went into the frontier while ignoring your summoning, eh?" Michael straightened up to his full height (which was only about 5 feet) and pointed his heavy sword at the Admiral and her men. "I've told you before, Sevi. If you want me to cooperate, _start a fucking war_!"

There was silence once more blanketing the bay. Only the monotone crashing of the waves interrupted the silence. The tension was so thick, that one could cut it with a knife.

"I see…" Sevothtarte finally said. "I finally understand that you were never obeying my orders but rather your own desires…"

"Heh. You are pretty slow if you figured that out just now!" Michael sneered. "I was created solely for fight and destruction. After all…" While he said that Michael moved slowly towards the Marines, ignoring the baffled stares of the pirates behind him. However, when he had gone only about two or three steps the back of his black coat suddenly bulged and… tore open as a pair of mighty feathery wings unfurled from Michael's back. They spanned over about 15 feet and were in the most vibrant shades of red and gold – like blazing fire. Or perhaps like a Phoenix' wings. "... after all I am the friggin' _Archangel_ of_ War and Fire_; Michael –_ Leader_ of the _Heavenly Armies_!"

With that said he brought both wings down and whirled up a massive amount of dust and sand while catapulting his slender body all the remaining way over to Sevothtarte. The pirates were forced to shield their eyes with their arms.

Flames blazed up all around his wings and the blade of his sword as he brought it down with bone-shattering force. The impact caused a massive wave of fire running from the tip of Michael's blade all over the Marines, shook the ground, churned the sea and heated the air.

Nobody would survive such an attack.

And still…

"You have not changed a bit, Michael-_dono_" Mika's golden eyes widened as the dust and flames died away, revealing an uninjured Sevothtarte. She had blocked his sword with her own and used her own powers to shield herself and her men against the archangel's fiery wrath. Everything around the humans was scorched black, but they were unharmed. "As expected from the heavenly general. You still attack very predictable, Mika-_chan_."

Michael snarled at her: "_Don't call me Mika-chan_! Raphael's the only one that is allowed to!"

"Did I hit a delicate spot?"

The smaller angel wanted to bark something else, but he noted Sevothtarte preparing another attack. Reacting quickly he flew back in the moment the 'White Justice' spread her own wings and unleashed a powerful shock wave into the general direction of the other angel.

Michael landed nimbly on the skull embedded into the Kid pirate ship's bow and glared at Sevothtarte. Her wings were larger than his and of a pure white colour, like a magnesium flare.

"Since when is the great Michael-sama running away from a battle?!" she called out mockingly.

"Che!" was the snorted answer, "I never run from a battle, Sevi!"

Mocking the shorter again Sevothtarte ruffled her wings and questioned: "Not even when you face the King of Hell himself… your _own brother_?"

"You tend to forget that I fucking put him there!" Michael shouted. "Prepare to die, you damned Bitch!"

The red-haired angel attacked again, only this time Sevothtarte met him in the middle. Their swords clashed violently again before the fighters broke apart in a whirl of red and white feathers. A shockwave was unleashed again and threw the pirates off their feet. But Michael and Sevothtarte had already shifted upwards and clashed again about a hundred feet above the ground.

It was clear that they would not present their opponent with anything.

-oo0oo-

"Mika… is a fuckin' angel?!" Kid found himself thinking as he struggled back to his feet. This last shockwave had swept him off his feet as if he was a little schoolgirl!

"Don't zone out!" Killer shouted. Pointing his blades to where the Marines came running towards them, he yelled: "Get back to your feet! We have to deal with other things right now!"

Kid got up in the moment his men scrambled back to their feet. In the next moment the Marines were upon them and started to fight against the less numerous pirates while the cannons from both ships began to blast through the noises of the brawl.

There were at least 20 times more Marines than pirates, but the Kid pirates were not to be taking lightly.

"Killer!" Kid shouted over the brawl, "You, Wire and Heat stay with me, the rest gets back on board! Bring down that fucking warship!"

"AYE CAPTAIN!"

"And we others deal with the Marines" Kid growled as he smashed his fist into the face of a Marine. Immediately afterwards he used his powers to drag some of their weapons towards himself – only to repel them against the Marines.

Only those Marines were of a different level. They were not like the cowardly, weak Marines they encountered on Sabaody. These here would get back to their feet and attack anew.

"Stay down, bitch!" Kid roared and kicked another Marine away. While he fought his way through the rows of the naval soldiers he unconsciously recalled what Michael had asked him only a few days ago. _"Why do humans continue to fight even if they're beaten down and defeated?"_

Eustass Kid finally found the answer. As long as they had something to hold on, they will continue to fight, no matter their situation. And right now that something was the belief in their Admiral's strength.

He cast a glance upwards, but found it difficult to follow the angels' quick movements, especially while fighting. Only the fiery shock waves racing across the sky whenever their swords met betrayed their position.

Something was strange, though. It seemed as if the two of them moved away from the pirates.

"Mika's leading Sevi away!" flashed through his head, "As if Mika doesn't want us to be caught in his cross fire… oho, I made a pun."

Then another Marine attacked, aiming for his head, and Kid found himself back in the old routine of fighting once more.

-oo0oo-

Michael dove after Sevothtarte again, sword ready to strike his opponent down. They had created some distance to the bay and the pirates, and now Mika tried to bring Sevi down.

No matter how powerful an angel was when flying, they did prefer to fight with solid ground under their feet. And this was what the archangel of war was aiming at.

Purposely he let one of Sevothtarte's attacks slip through his defence and allowed his body to drop down. But he smirked when he felt the wind rushing past his face.

"What…?" Sevi asked bewildered. Then she narrowed her eyes and said: "So… you want to fight on the ground then, what Michael? Very well."

Quickly she followed the other angel.

Moments later her feet touched the ground again. Michael was already there, leaned onto his massive sword and smirked at the White Justice. They were in a small clearing in the island's lush forest, abut half a mile away from the bay.

"So, now that we're here, we can finally fight for real, Sevi" Michael said, still smirking.

"That's why you led me here" Sevothtarte said darkly, "You did not want to bring the pirates into danger by unleashing your full powers, did you?"

"Correct."

Sevi leaned back and crossed her arms. "Why do you care about those mortals, Michael? I thought you were the one killing off other creatures without thinking twice?"

"That does not extend to my guys" the other angel retorted, "And no matter how you look at it, those mortals are my guys. They are friends, Sevi."

"Friends?" Sevi asked coldly before beginning to laugh. "An angel that has mortal friends?! This is the most ridiculous thing I ever heard!"

"Laugh all you want" Michael growled, "You'll never understand it anyways!" He brought his sword up again and flames blazed up all around him, flowing from his body in a perfect circular shape around the two of them until the clearing was set ablaze. "Now let's fight for real. I want to see what powers gave you the title of Admiral!"


	14. Chapter 14

Michael smashed his massive sword down and created another wave of fire directed at Sevothtarte. And once again she blocked his attack!

The archangel narrowed his eyes in anger and his feather quivered enraged. He had destroyed the whole clearing already, everything was scorched and reduced to ashes and naked stone, but he still had not managed to turn Sevi into cinders.

"You are wondering why you couldn't cremate me, don't you?" she finally spoke out his thoughts.

"The astral powers that you lot have are a hundred times weaker than mine!" Michael shouted, "You should be nothing more than a smouldering heap of ashes and bones by now!"

"And yet here I am" Sevothtarte replied smirking, "Still alive and able to even injure you, the great Michael-sama! Tell me… do the wounds sting?"

The smaller angel scowled darkly. As much as he hated to admit it, Sevi was indeed at least on his level. And somehow she had found a new strange power that allowed her not to only fend off his fire attacks but also fight on par with him – perhaps even above him as he remembered at the sudden pain.

Sevothtarte used this power to enforce her own astral attacks, which were shockwaves that caused internal and external damages. Thanks to his own astral might, though, his damages were only medium whereas a human would have been dead without doubt.

But one of her last attacks broke one to three of his ribs. Not to mention the countless relatively shallow cuts stung like hell.

On the other hand, she was almost unfazed. Not only was she able to block his fire and break through his defences, she was also somehow able to derive his next moves and react towards it.

"Okay, Sevi-sama. You made me curious" he said snarling. "How do you do that?"

Chuckling she said. "No harm in telling you, I suppose" Looking up she crossed her arms and folded her wings neatly. "The humans living here found a strange power inside their very souls. They call it 'Haki'."

"Haki?"

"You could say it's a weaker type of our astral powers found in any living being. But it can be used to do otherwise impossible feats! When I found out how to use it, I became more powerful than ever before. Now I am on par with you, Michael!"

Michael growled angered at her and spread his wings once again. "You wish! I am still the damn Archangel! You are only a mere Angel!" He swung his wing forwards and shot off a few of his feathers. Out of habit Sevothtarte evaded. However, she silently thanked for that habit because the feathers exploded violently on contact, throwing up debris and ashes and destroyed some of the still standing trees.

Suddenly Michael was above her and brought his heavy sword down again. "You are not the only one that learned new tricks, Sevi!"

Another massive explosion rocked the island.

-oo0oo-

The pirates were still fighting determined against the Marines. Even though they had brought down a great deal of them, they still kept coming.

"Damnit!" Kid cursed under his breath, "Where does the Marine get all their personal from?!"

"KID!" Killer shouted, still only barely audible over the blaring of the guns and the shouting of the men. Kid faced him only when Heat burnt down a few Marines.

"What Killer?" he shouted asking back.

"Look!" was all Killer said, pointing at some point behind them.

Kid widened his eyes at the sight. "The forest…!" he gasped, "It's burning!"

Indeed the lush forest was set ablaze. The flames were spreading unnaturally fast, and had almost reached the small bay. With a shifting of the wind the thick, biting clouds drifted towards them, and immediately Kid had to cough.

In the center of it all were constant explosions throwing up dirt and burning wood. This was where the two angels were fighting against each other.

Through the thick clouds of smoke Kid managed to catch a movement. High above the trees were two figures, like birds. One, a white one, was clearly visible even through the thick smoke. But the position of the second, the red one, could only be guessed due the smoke.

Out of reasons he did not understand Kid felt a sudden pang in his heart. He did not know where it came from, but he knew he had to look whether his 'little brother' was still alright.

Somehow Killer realised this. Running over to his captain and friend while killing some more Marines he said: "Kid! Go and look for Mika!"

"What about you?"

"We can take care of ourselves, Captain!" Wire replied, "The Marines are almost down!"

"Bring the little one back!" Heat added.

Kid nodded. "Thank you, guys."

"Be careful" Killer said, "Don't get killed, or else I'll drag you out of hell only to beat you up, understood?"

Kid couldn't help but smile. "Sure Killer. I'll return alive – and with Mika."

"Good Luck!" Killer shouted after the retreating back of his captain. Then he turned back around and slashed at another Marine.

"You heard it!" he shouted, "Let's bring those guys down!"

"YEAH!"

-oo0oo-

Michael spiralled higher into the air. He did it not to escape the biting smoke or the heat, since he was pretty comfortable with both. No, he did it to catch a better glimpse on his opponent.

Sevothtarte's white wings were a dead giveaway in the dirty grey smoke of the forest fire he had caused.

"There!" he thought smirking at the sight of something pure white floating in the heat of the flames. Immediately he folded his wings and went into a nosedive with his sword pointing downwards. Like a falcon he dove after his aimed target.

However, as soon as he broke through the smoke clouds and saw Sevothtarte's _coat_ his mind screamed out for him.

"It's a fucking trap!" shot through his brain. Reacting with the unnatural speed of a trained warrior he relocated his weight and spread his wings out again… but he was too slow.

"Fell for it!" Sevothtarte shouted in the moment and attacked from his left. Michael evaded and tried to block, but Sevi used this 'Haki' in the same moment.

The impact of the two blades was so strong that the resulting shockwave doused almost all flames around them and it made their bones rattle. A spike of pain raced through Michael's arm and his hand opened up on its own accord, letting his trusty sword Kriel slip from his weakened grasp.

This action only widened Sevothtarte's smirk. Michael realised this and summoned forth a blaze to protect himself. It was of no use.

In the next moment it felt as if his ribcage had been flattened to paper.

Sevothtarte had smashed another shockwave attack directly into his body, this he realised when his wings gave up their work and he plummeted towards the ashen ground.

The ground met his back with a sickening crack, but his meagre weight bounced off and spun several times before he ended up face-down in the dirt, wings dragged limply over his bruised back.

"I've told you I'd win after all" Sevothtarte said laughing somewhere above him.

Michael tried to fight himself back to his feet, but his right arm was screaming out in pain, causing him to collapse again. It was either broken or close to that. Not to mention that he was unable to breath normally without living through hell.

Suddenly there was another pain, more agonizing than anything he had ever experienced before. Wide-eyed he turned around, not seeing Sevothtarte standing there next to him, only the blade of his own sword. Sevothtarte had smashed it through his right wing and deep into the rocky ground below. Luckily she did not hit any bones; otherwise he could kiss it goodbye. Still the blade was stuck so deep that he could not free himself on his own accord without endangering the wing further.

"See, Michael?" Sevothtarte said somewhere above him and he turned his head warily. "I said I've become stronger. You on the other hand, my dear archangel, have not improved one bit."

"Bitch" Mika managed to hiss out. God! His right arm hurt like hell, his ribs hurt like the fucking hell and don't get him started on his right wing! God! He didn't know what pain really was until now!

Sevothtarte moved a little bit away again, snickering. "Don't worry. I won't cut your wings. I'll just kill you quickly… and then your powers shall be mine!"

"RARGH!" Michael shouted and sent another wave of fire at the White Justice. A feeble attempt as he noticed quickly.

"You have already tried this, little angel!" she shot back.

And then Sevothtarte unleashed another, powerful shockwave at her disabled foe. The attack raced over the ground and whirled up a lot of ash and dust. Michael widened his eyes before screwing them shut.

Even with his fire powers he would not be able to block this attack, and his body was too weakened to withstand the force.

This was it, he thought, my inevitable end.

Then the attack hit and a mushroom cloud of dirt rose up all around him.


	15. Chapter 15

There was no pain other than the one he already felt. "Weird, shouldn't there be pain? Or is dieing a painless event?" Michael thought.

Suddenly there was something wet and warm splattering all over him. The boy had only a few seconds to notice it when a massive weight crushed down onto him and forced all the breath out of his lungs.

For another painfully long moment it was silent. Then: "S…shit… are you okay?"

"Kid?!" Michael was wide-awake right away. Turning his head to see his friend proved a challenge, since Kid lay above him, and he was not only larger, but also at least thrice as heavy as the slim angel.

He had thrown his own body into the line of fire before it could hit his 'choice brother'. But he had paid dearly for that stunt; this was something Michael immediately realised as well. The majority of the blood pooling underneath both was indeed from the pirate. The part of his body which caught the attack was covered with deep gashes. Deriving from the nature of the White Justice's attacks there were probably internal damage as well, however the worst Michael could see was on Kid's left arm.

If one could call that bloody piece of meat an arm.

"Kid… you arm!" Mika cried out. "Shit! Your arm's fucked!"

"…And that was my good one, too…" Kid managed to grunt with a pained smirk, "But more important… are you okay?"

"Don't worry about me, you asshead! That number will kill you!"

"Oh, so that's why I feel like shit right now…"

"It seems as if pirates are truly stupid" was suddenly said. Michael's head whirled around and back to Sevothtarte who stood there, smirking. "Throwing your life away to safe someone else's for a few moments?! I will kill you anyways! You truly are a stupid lot!" But why was this so familiar? Why did it remind her of Luffy and Ace?

"Kid… why did you do such a thing?" Michael asked, his voice barely a whisper.

"Don't be stupid… Mika" Kid answered panting, "It's what big brothers do… they protect their little brothers."

Michael did not know what to say at first. Nobody had ever said that to him. Suddenly he gasped sharply when Kid grabbed the sword stuck in Michael's wing.

"Go" he grunted, "Finish her off."

With a sharp, strong tug that was almost impossible for an injured man Kid tore the sword Kriel out of Michael's wing, earning a sharp gasp and a suppressed scream of pain – an angel's wings were the most sensitive parts of an angel after all! In the next moment Mika scrambled out from under the larger pirate and jumped at the utterly surprised Sevothtarte.

"SEVOTHTARTE!" he shouted. "I'LL KILL YOU!"

"USELESS!" she shouted back. Bringing her sword in front of her she unleashed another powerful Haki-infused shockwave, one that could surely bring the angel down and kill the weakened pirate.

However, Michael's wrath and distress gave him the power to shatter the attack and the sword as if it were glass. His eyes were burning with hatred and flames sprung up all around him.

"What?!" was all Sevothtarte could think as the archangel struck out with all his might.

He caught her off guard and thrust his hand through her stomach. A massive stream of fire discharged behind her, levelling the entire island in its wake. Sevothtarte screamed out, her scream was replaced with a wet gurgle and she collapsed when Michael pulled his hand free again.

The archangel stared down at the collapsed woman before him. He should probably cremate her right now for daring to injure his brother to this extent, but a pained cough from Kid called him away.

"Shit… Kid!"

The larger redhead coughed again. Blood splattered the ground before him as he groaned: "Still alive… Mika."

Michael allowed himself to breathe out in relieve. "Fuck… Killer's going to tear our asses open for this."

Kid chuckled at this before coughing again. Smirking he said: "First he's going to patch us up. _Then_ he will tear us a new one."

-oo0oo-

The bay was eerily silent again. The Marines lay slaughtered on the beach and their ship was shot into splinters. The pirates were just tending to their injured and the damaged ship. Killer stepped concerned over a few bodies.

"How's the ship?" he heard Wire shout.

"Damaged, but we can still get away from here!" Mako answered. "Killer! Give us orders!"

The masked man looked up to the pirates then back towards the still burning forest. "We'll wait for Kid and Mika" he eventually said. "If they don't come back in five minutes, I want Wire and Heat to accompany me!"

Much to his relieve, they did not have to do that. After seemingly endless three and a half minutes, Mako shouted: "I think I see them!"

Killer, Wire and Heat immediately turned into the direction Mako pointed to. There, between the trees, they saw something red. The vibrant red of Kid's and Mika's hair as well as the red of Mika's wings betrayed their position, even in this moonless night. The three on the bay ran over at once, but stopped dead in their tracks on seeing them.

The huge pirate was severely injured and had to lean on the way smaller redhead. Michael staggered under Kid's massive weight. Both their clothes and skins were stained with dried blotches of blood, most of it was from Kid as the sheer amount of injuries hypothesised. His dark fur coat was draped haphazardly over his slumped shoulders.

"KID!" Killer shouted, "Fuck! What did you do this time?"

"Fought Sevi, what else?" Kid managed to say grinning, with slight amusement in his only eye – the other was screwed shut with a massive gash running over it. "She made a mess out of me – but at least I'm alive."

"And how long, you idiot?! That she made a 'mess' out of you is the understatement of the century!" Killer fumed, "Look at you!"

Heat came alongside of the redheaded duo to take a quick look at his captain. As soon as he lifted the coat to check the injuries he heard Wire and Killer gasp out in shock. "Your arm is done for!" he said alarmed.

"Thanks for pointing it out, Mister Obvious" Kid retorted sadistically. "I already noted…" he did not come much farther because of a violent coughing fit that caused him to spit up quite an amount of blood.

"That's not good" Heat grumbled, "Internal damage as well…?!" He turned quickly back to Wire and said: "Let's get the Captain back on board at once!"

The normally so stoically tall man nodded hurriedly and took the burden off the small angel. Michael stayed slightly behind in worry, blaming himself on what happened.

"Let's get on board, too" Killer said, "You're not too good looking yourself."

-oo0oo-

The tension in the mess was almost suffocating. Nobody said anything. They had decided to leave the bay and go towards the small rocky island Michael had discovered on their way here, to hide in one of the larger cavities until the coast was clear again.

While Heat and Wire were still in the infirmary tending to their captain, Killer had taken Mika aside to tend to his wounds, too. Right now he was stitching up the massive gash left by Michael's sword in his wing.

Michael said nothing. Actually he did not react at anything, only his wings twitched whenever the treatment became too painful.

Killer eventually cut the thread and leaned back, staring the smaller angel directly into the eye. "Okay. What the fuck happened back on the island?"

This question was burning on everyone's tongue. Mika sighed out and said quietly: "Kid took Sevoththarte's attack for me. He saved my life."

Killer shook his head, mumbling something like: "I knew it…" and made a reach for the bandages. In that moment, however, the door was opened and Wire came into the mess. Everyone's attention was suddenly on him, but he did not mind.

"What's the situation?" Brynhild asked. "How's the Captain?"

"Passed out" Wire answered. "The situation is… _grim_ to say the least."

"_How _grim?" Killer inquired. "Come, Wire. Don't sugar-coat it."

The tall man huffed out and sat down next to Mika and Killer. "Thanks to the fact that Mika here cauterized the wounds, the external ones will be relatively easy be dealt with. They'll leave scars without doubt… what has been left of his arm had to be amputated though, but his eye is still in one piece and we can replace the lost arm with an artificial limb…"

"But?"

"The _internal_ injuries are what worry me deeply" Wire eventually said. "Heat said he had neither the tools nor the right equipment to deal with these kinds of injuries…"

Everything was silent again.

Until: "Shall that mean… you can't save the Captain?"

"Not without leaving permanent damage or killing him in the process."

"FUCK!" Michael suddenly roared out and smashed his hand down, flames erupted around him. Killer and Wire had to jump back in order to not get torched. Still parts of the bench and table were turned into cinders right away. "Shit! It's my fucking fault!"

"Knock out of it!" Killer shouted, "If someone's to blame, it's that damn bitch Sevothtarte! Kid only did what he always does! Fuck…" Killer slumped back to the bench and took a long shuddering breath. "Fuck. The idiot is truly attached to you Mika. Otherwise he'd never endanger himself like this."

"Shit…" Mika huffed and buried his face in his hands, "Shit, if Raphael was here he could help!"

"Can't you call him here?" Mako asked carefully.

"No" Michael countered, "I cut all links back to Yetzirah. And right now…" he spread his injured wing to emphasise his point, "I can't even_ fly_ back there. Not with that wing."

"…but you can still fly… can't you?" Killer asked carefully.

"Not really high or very long. So heaven's out of reach right now."

"But you can still do it, right?"

Michael blinked at the masked man. "Yes… that should still be possible."

Killer huffed out in relieve. "I think I have an idea. Even though none of us – especially the captain – will like it."

"What?"

"Trafalgar Law" Killer said, "He saved the Strawhat's life back in Marineford, he can surely help Kid, too."

"And he's somewhere around here to top!" Wire added. Turning to Mika he said: "I'm afraid this is the only possibility. Mika? Can you fly to his ship and ask him to come here? Force him if you have to."

Michael looked from the tall man to the masked one. Suddenly he had a chance to save Kid's life, so he took it. "I'll do it."

"Good. But hurry up!"

"Nothing flies faster than an angel!" With that said he sprinted out of the mess. The others followed him quickly, but when they made it out of the door, Michael had already jumped over the railing and raced out to the open sea.

"Good luck" Killer muttered. He watched the red speck until it disappeared in the dark of the night before going back inside.

Kid's life was now depending on Michael.


	16. Chapter 16

The sun was climbing higher in the sky, almost reaching the zenith. An odd yellow ship danced over the exceptional calm waves. On board: The Heart Pirates.

Although the late morning was still pretty crisp, Law and his men were on deck and enjoyed the sun. Bepo, the crew's polar bear, had lain down to sleep while his captain leaned against him like against a big fluffy pillow.

"It's cool that you are a Shichibukai now, captain!" Shachi said, "But also somewhat boring. The Marines don't want to fight us anymore…"

Law smirked at him. "Don't worry about that, Shachi. I highly doubt that'll become boring while we're here" He leaned back again and looked up into the blue sky. "Although it'll be not as interesting as long as Mr. Strawhat hasn't returned."

"Captain!" Penguin suddenly shouted, "There's a huge bird coming in our direction from starboard!"

"Bird?"

"A big red bird…" Penguin said again. But then he squinted closer before shouting: "Wait… That is no bird! That's a person!"

Law raised a tired eyebrow and got slowly to his feet using his Nodachi as a makeshift crutch. But in the moment he got to his feet, Jean called out for him and Law widened his eyes before ducking down. The person-sized object raced shortly over his head before crushing onto the deck of his ship. Feathers flew up in all directions from the crash site before they seemingly turned into ashes and were carried away by the wind.

For a while there was shocked silence. Then: "Damn! That is a _boy_! With _wings_!"

"And not just any boy" Law said as he walked over to the crashed angel, "That's Michael-ya if I'm not wrong."

Upon hearing his name the boy coughed and began to rise again, however, his right arm constantly gave out from underneath him. "Great…" he groaned and sat back on his haunches, "_Now_ it's _definitely_ broken…"

"Say…" Michael became aware of the other people and turned his head to look at the eerily calm smiling face of Trafalgar Law. Sweetly the doctor asked: "Aren't you the 'little brother' of Eustass-ya?" His smile only widened when Mika narrowed his eyes dangerously. "Like I said before, you are an intriguing person…" he said and stroked carefully over the quivering red feathers.

He immediately retracted his hand before Michael could burn it. "Don't _fucking_ dare to touch me!" Michael hissed.

"Sorry" Law chuckled and walked around the boy to look at him closer. There were a lot of seemingly older wounds and bruises which dyed parts of his skin in a sickly blue-purple colour. Judging from the boy's earlier sentence his right arm was broken and there was a deep gash on his right wing, which actually pierced through the limb. Someone had sewn the wound close previously, but the stitches had broken.

Law shrugged and said. "I'm a doctor, Michael-ya. I'm supposed to touch my patients."

At the word 'doctor' the boy angel seemed to perk up a little. "Did you say 'doctor'?"

"Yes" the man said smiling, "Trafalgar Law, Surgeon of Death at your service. Can't remember my face? I was next to Eustass-ya when you smashed that one Kuma-ya cyborg!"

"…I'm terrible with faces…" But then the kid shook his head and stood up. "But no matter… I came here to ask you something."

"Oh?"

"It's about…" the boy began, stopped, took a breath and continued: "It's about Kid. He was severely injured protecting me against 'White Justice' Sevothtarte."

"You fought an Admiral?" Jean called out disbelievingly.

"And I beat her, Damnit!" the boy fumed, "But not before she managed to land a hit on Kid" The angel sighed again and said: "Look, normally I would never ever ask anyone for help – especially not a creepy bastard such as yourself - but our doc said he couldn't help Aniki with the equipment he had."

"So you want me to help Eustass-ya" Law closed. Michael nodded gloomily.

"That's the only reason I came here" he said. His golden eyes darkened and he added: "And I am allowed to use force if you were not to cooperate."

Law chuckled. "That won't be necessary. Even though I feel like the friggin' Mother Teresa when helping random pirates asking for help… but then again, it would be a shame if Eustass-ya dropped out of our little race to the One Piece" He sighed again and added: "And I am a doctor. I'm expected to help the ones in need."

Michael's eyes brightened up a little. "So you're going to help Aniki?"

Law shrugged. "Sure. Just tell us the location of your ship."

If it was not so absolutely against his principles, Michael would have hugged the other pirate. Instead he just said: "Thank you."

"But until we're there, I'm going to take care of your wounds" Law said then, "You are getting blood all over my ship."

-oo0oo-

The submarine moved at top speed through the waves. Michael had urged them to go fast since he was afraid for Kid's health, even though he knew he was a stubborn bastard. While the rest of the crew tended to the ship, the angel was together with Law in his operating theatre.

Law just finished stitching the wound up and cleaned it again with medical alcohol. Michael sat silent as a rabbit on the stainless steel table and allowed the doctor to work.

Law put the alcohol away and took some bandages. While he began to wrap up the red feathered appendage he finally broke the silence. "That was a pretty deep wound. A few inches further up and you could have lost that wing."

"Luckily I didn't" Mika grunted, "It'll heal again."

"First I thought your wings were from some Devil Fruit ability, but since they can become injured they must be part of your body!" Law droned on, more to himself than to Mika. "And so I derive that you are not a normal human… what does your kind need their wings for? Flying?"

"That's only a nice secondary effect. Normally we fly around with machines" Michael replied bored, "You are right, doc, I'm not a 'normal human'. Actually, I'm no human at all!"

"Oh? So what are you then, Michael-ya?"

"An Angel" was the simple reply. "Before you ask, yes, we do exist. Only hidden before the eyes of the mortals."

"Interesting" Law said, "To think that I'm the first doctor that tends to an angel…!"

"Technically, you are the second" Michael retorted. "Our doc had to patch me up a few times already."

"But back to my question" Law said then, "What do you need your wings then if not preferential for flying?"

"Astral powers" Michael said, shrugging his shoulders. "They are the source of our Astral Powers. And they keep us in perfect health, too. An angel can never die through old age or illness, only through forces from the outside."

"Interesting…" Law said again. Pulling lightly on the outstretched wing he asked: "What would happen if an angel loses his wings?"

"They'll die a slow and gruesome death" Michael said darkly. "And if they should survive – which does not happen very often – they are still better off dead."

"Better off dead? …Why?"

"Because you'd end up like poor Valtiel."

Law raised an eyebrow and moved on to some gashes on the angel's back. "What happened to that Valtiel?"

"Lost his wings during a fight with a demon. He did survive, though, but the results were terrible" Michael sighed out and looked to the low ceiling. "Valtiel used to be a respected and loved member of our ranks. Damn, even I liked that guy somewhat! He was Metatron's caretaker before Sevothtarte" He shook his head and continued: "Then he lost his wings, and with it everything – including his face."

"He became deeply embarrassed by that?"

"No, I mean it" Michael grunted. "He does _not_ have a _fucking face_. And his mouth is at the _back_ of his damn head!" Law's eyes widened in shock, but Michael carried on: "His head is constantly twitching like he's having spasms. Nowadays he spends his days crawling along on walls and ceilings and turning random valves while wearing a dirty butcher's smock. On his worse days he wears an ass-huge helmet and drags a giant knife around with him, killing everything that comes in his way or skinning people single-handed."

"That sounds… unpleasant."

"You can be fucking sure it is" Michael snorted. "If you cut an angel's wings, at least have the decency to kill him afterwards."

Law grimaced at that. But he did not say anything anymore. Instead he tended to Michael's injuries quietly.

-oo0oo-

Further away a Marine battleship arrived on the island. Terrified the Marines stepped over the bodies of their comrades.

"Shit" one said, "Shit, what the fuck had happened here?"

"Don't know" another one answered, "But I don't see Admiral Sevothtarte anywhere. Let's look for her."

The two of them went towards the burnt woods while the rest of their crew went to collect the dead to give them a proper burial.

"Look!" the first one said, "There's a blood track!"

"Whether this is from the Admiral?"

"Don't know. Let's follow it." And this they did.

Soon the two of them came across a massive swath of destruction. No tree stood there anymore, no rock. Everything was only black and white ashes. And at the end of that swath lay an extremely destroyed clearing.

"Man. This looks as if a bomb had blown up here."

"Yes… what had happened here…?" Something caught their eyes.

"SHIT! It's Sevi!" the second shouted. They ran over to their fallen Admiral.

There was a massive stab wound in her stomach, running through her whole body. She had oozing burns everywhere.

"Fuck! It looks as if she was run through by a sword or something… Shit. Poor Admiral."

"Mourn later, asshead" the other said. "She's still alive!"

"WHAT?!"

"Let's bring her back to the ship!"


	17. Chapter 17

The steps and talking aboard the ship seemed so incredible far away, even though they were actually only a few rooms and halls further to his right. It was late afternoon, but Michael did not care about this.

He sat outside the operation theatre on Law's ship for what seemed an eternity. He had long lost his track of time, and did not know how long he was there. Just sitting there like an abandoned puppy in front of that door behind which Law and Heat were fighting for his brother's life.

Mika did not feel like talking to anyone. And so far nobody had approached the boy.

Nobody until now.

"Hey Mika" The angel boy lifted his head only slowly to face the masked gaze of Killer. "You have not moved for over five hours. The others are becoming worried."

"I'll stay here and wait what the docs say…"

Killer sighed. "They won't finish faster when you only sit here" The masked man kneeled down and patted the boy's wild red hair. "Don't worry. As much as I despise that Trafalgar guy, he knows what he does."

Mika looked back to the door before turning back to Killer. It was only then that he noticed a white bandage around Killer's left arm. Nodding to the injury he asked: "What happened?"

"Oh, this?" Killer asked, "Well, remember when you broke down yesterday?"

"…This had been me?"

Killer shrugged. "My fault too. I didn't get away fast enough."

"…I'm sorry about that" the teen whispered.

"Hey, don't worry about that. You should worry about yourself, Mika."

As much as he hated to admit it, he was a mess. His clothes were torn and stained with blood, his skin and hair were caked with blood, dirt and sweat and even his feathers were dirty. The only things clean on him were the white bandages Law had applied.

"When did you wash yourself last time?" Killer asked then, "Because you are in dire need of a bath. Not to mention a good night's rest and something to eat."

"But…"

"No buts" Killer said huffing and pulled the boy to his feet. "You go and rest. I'll wait here for Law, okay?"

Michael sighed out heavily and nodded, too tired to care about anything. It was then when Law came out of the operating theatre, while wiping his hands on a towel. The two Kid pirates looked at the captain of the Heart pirates expectant.

Without awaiting their spoken question, Law said: "He'll live. But he won't be able to fight anyone for a while. Let him rest for a few weeks and he should be back to the loud, obnoxious and violent Captain Kid you all know and respect" Shrugging he added: "Minus the left arm, of course, but Heat said he knows how to replace it with an artificial limb."

A heavy weight was just lifted from both their shoulders. "Good" Mika said, "Can we go to him?"

Law shook his head. "Not yet. Right now Eustass-ya is still unconscious. And I'll keep him here for a few days before I release him to your ship."

"And the way you look you shouldn't visit anyone" Killer said smirking. "Now get into the bath, Mika-chan."

Michael stiffed, looked up to Killer and growled: "_Don't_ call me Mika-chan!"

Killer ignored the literally blazing angel next to him and turned to Law. "Thanks a lot, Trafalgar. Do you want something as payment in return?"

The doctor waved him off. "Nah, examining the little guy…"

"I'M NOT LITTLE!"

"…was enough. Just take care your captain won't smash my face against a wall like he did last time. Because that hurt. Besides…" He smirked his typical, creepy smirk again: "Eustass-ya is my rival. Without him, the race to the top is only half as fun. Also when a friggin' _angel_ comes to ask for your assistance, one does not say 'no'!"

-oo0oo-

The sun shone brightly through the portholes of the room when Mika entered, blinding him for a moment.

"Mika?"

The angel grinned and entered the room, making his way over to the bed. Kid sat in said bed. Obviously he had just awoken, judging from the tired gaze and his wild red hair.

After Law and Heat stitched him back up, they sent him to his own bed and told him to stay there. Of course, Kid was not someone to silently sit somewhere, but after Killer threatened to constrain him to his bed he had given up. Not to mention that he had no idea how to dress himself with only one arm (his weak one too!), and running around naked was the last thing he wanted.

Michael approached Kid, looking over the bandages and especially over the one covering his left shoulder where his arm used to be. It happened weeks ago, but it still hurt looking at it. Swallowing that feeling and said: "We'll land in a port soon. Shall I get you something?"

"Something to occupy myself with. This boredom is killing me!"

Michael grinned. "That is exactly why I left Yetzirah!"

"Out of boredom?"

Shrugging he said down on the edge of the bed and told him: "Sevi wasn't the best ruler of heaven, but at least I could fight demons here and then. Since the new government is installed I'm no longer allowed to!"

Kid laughed. "That sucks!"

"It does!"

For a while they just sat there talking. Kid enjoyed this little distraction, since there was not much for him to do as long as he was still recuperating. Eventually he said: "As soon as Heat says I'm ready, I'll build myself a new arm."

"I still don't understand why you sacrificed yourself to save me" Michael said before he even knew he wanted to say that. "I mean, you must've known that if you survive, you'd be in agony for months!"

"God! Are you still worked up about that?" Kid asked. "I've told you before, it's what big brothers do! They protect their little brothers!"

"…Do you know that I'm older than the whole crew together?"

"…How old are you?"

"Five thousand years… give or take a few centuries… hey! Don't go to sleep again!"

Michael blinked at Kid again, but before he could wake him up Killer entered. "We landed and… did Kid go to sleep again?"

"…Yes."

"Hmm… looks like he passed out from shock… "What did you tell him?"

"Only my age!"

Killer blinked at him from under his mask. "So you _are_ older than you look! Hah! I already thought as much!" Michael gasped for air, but the masked man suddenly asked: "Say… are you by chance _the_ Archangel Michael?"

"That's my titel" Mika said somewhat confused. "I thought I made that clear?"

"I'm only confused. He is mostly portrayed as a great hero with long blonde hair…"

Michael barked a short laughter. "Hah. That view can be described as 'idealized' at best!" Pointing at himself he grunted: "This is all you'll ever get. Humans didn't want to believe it, so they made everything else up."

"Well, I kinda hoped the Archangel was more like I am…" Killer shook that off and carried on: "I don't really care who you really are or how old you truly are, your body is still looking like that of a child, so you are Kid's little brother!"

Mika scowled at that and growled: "I'm not just someone's little brother!"

"Of course you aren't! But this is how everyone will always see you" Patting the redhead's fiery red hair he said: "You won't get acknowledged until you make yourself a name. Perhaps they will then call Kid 'the big brother of Eustass Michael'."

"Humans are strange."

"Yes, perhaps we are… Come, let's get on shore." Mika nodded and both went out to leave Kid to rest. Eventually Killer asked: "Why do you look like a child anyways?"

"Oh, that's because an angel is only aging until his or her Astral Powers are fully developed. Mine evolved a bit… too fast and so I'm stuck in the body of a child till the day I die."

"Sounds hard…"

Michael grinned. "Well at least I'm not stuck in the body of a toddler like Metatron did!"

Killer laughed: "Okay, that's true"

While they walked, Michael asked: "Killer? Can you tell me everything about 'Haki'?"

"Why's that?"

"Sevi said she had used it against me… and as much as I detest this idea, but she kicked my ass pretty hard. So I want to learn Haki!"

Killer shrugged. "Sure. I don't know much, but it should be enough for beginners… just answer me one question."

"Shoot."

"Where do you put your wings? I mean I've seen the things; one of them is larger than you are. So where the fuck do you put them when you don't need 'em?"

Michael tilted his head. "Good question. I never thought about that…"


	18. Chapter 18

BOOOM!

Tsher!

Kid grinned over his whole face when a bullet made from scrap metal hit the bottle. But instead of hitting the bottle and smashing a nice hole through it, the thing exploded violently on contact, sending a rain of small, sharp glass splinters flying.

"See how that was blown up?!" Mika yelled from next the massive redhead, all too delighted about blowing something up.

It had been over two years ever since Michael joined his crew and Kid had grown really close to the smaller, but older redhead. They had become like real brothers, and were absolutely inseparable. Michael had even begun to wear dark lipstick and nail polish to look like Kid! And like the two rowdies they were all they did was to think about is how to have some more fun. It mostly resulted in something getting destroyed and Killer kicking and/or beating them through the room.

Just in that moment said man stood in the doorway. He sighed deeply at the sight of the countless empty and broken bottles all around the two redheads, but decided to not beat them right now. Bottles were not like the toilet like last week.

Instead Killer cleared his throat and said: "The DenDen Mushi is set up. That broadcast can come."

"It's still a whole day" Kid whined. "Can't this wait?"

Killer huffed. That idiot would never change. "You still have to register yourself on that broker broadcast, you know."

"I don't want to work as a broker…" Kid grunted, "…but on the other hand… being informed about this mysterious 'Weapon of Mass Destruction' can only be helpful."

"The only 'Weapon of Mass Destruction' you'll ever need sits right besides you" Mika said grinning.

"True" Kid replied.

Killer shook his head again. "Really. You two behave like little children. I didn't expect anything else from my idiot captain…" Kid growled at his first mate. "…but from a five thousand year old general I expected more!"

"It's how I ever rolled things up in Heaven" Michael retorted defiant.

"…I'm truly sorry for the other poor angels up there."

"Anyways" Kid said, taking the lead again, "How are the preparations for the meeting tomorrow running?"

"Everything's ready" Killer replied, "All that's missing now are Hawkins and Scratchman."

"Good Lord! The guy with those freaky arms and piano teeth?" Mika asked aghast.

"Exactly that guy" Kid answered cringing. "God, I hate that guy…"

"Be nice!" Killer warned him, "He and Hawkins were the only ones agreeing to an alliance with us! Only that guy's boss…" he said, pointing at Michael, "knows when the Strawhats are back in action, and you did not want to ally with Trafalgar!"

"Only because he saved my life… several times… I don't need to like him. Besides, Trafalgar's too creepy to take in alliance."

"But Scratchman isn't?"

"At least I can smash his face in if he gets on my nerves, and won't feel guilty about it."

"…You do know that God is dead, do you?" Michael piped up. "He was killed twenty years ago; I had been there."

"As far as I care he could still be around… maybe on the moon or somewhere. Did you check that, too?"

But before Mika could retort anything, Mako came running into the room, shouting: "There are intruders in our hideout!"

-0-

"Intruders?" Kid asked when they all moved towards the large mess hall, "How did they get here?"

"I don't know! They were suddenly here!"

"No matter…" Kid growled darkly and clenched his mechanical hand into a fist, "If they want trouble, they get trouble!"

Soon afterwards Kid, Killer, Mako and Michael entered the mess hall of the stronghold they stayed at for some time now. The other Kid pirates stood somewhat confused and tense in a circle around the intruders, most had their weapons drawn and were just waiting for their captain's signal.

There were two intruders, and they stood calm and not caring about the pirates in the middle of them. One of them, the shorter of the two, had shoulder-long wavy blonde hair, bored, sky blue eyes and wore a white suit. The other one was over a head taller, with tan skin, long, wavy black hair, with olive, sad eyes and was dressed in a black trench coat. Both were very beautiful and had a similar cross-shaped earring like Michael did (his was lost during one of the many battles he got himself into over the past years).

The blonde man raised a perfect eyebrow when he surveyed the pirates. "And you are sure this is the right place?" he then asked his taller companion, his voice soft and melodious.

"I am sure. This is befitting his… attitude" the other answered.

"What the hell?!" Kid roared, "Who the fuck are you?!" That drew the attention of the two intruders who looked somewhat shocked at the huge, violent, scarred, red-haired pirate captain.  
The blonde man seemed genuinely surprised and stepped back once, stuttering: "My! When did you become so… so _huge_, Mika-chan?"

"DON'T CALL ME MIKA-CHAN!"

The blonde blinked in surprise as the smaller redhead pushed his way through the crowd of the pirates. His taller companion simply said: "He did not become huge."

"Whew. I'm relieved!"

"What the fuck are you two doing here?!" Michael shouted, crossing his arms.

"You know these guys?" Killer asked surprised.

"Oh, I sure do" Mika snorted. Pointing to the blonde man he said: "That's the perverted Doctor and almighty Demi-God of Lust, Raphael!" He sniffed and added. "The other's Uriel."

"Archangel of Earth" Uriel said and bowed politely, "And Judge of the Dead ever since my predecessor got himself impaled on his own judgement wheel and got his face torn off."

"Yeah…" Michael said dreamily, "That was one show when that crusader guy waltzed into hell and beat the living crap outta Lucifer and his Evils…" Then he shook his head and went back to glaring: "But that doesn't matter; _what_ are you two doing here?"

"What for, do you think, Mika-chan?" Raphael asked smiling, consciously ignoring the angry snarl of the smaller angel, "We're going to take you back home!"

The Pirates looked up in surprise and shock.

Michael roared: "What do you think allows you to? You have not reacted for the two years I was gone! Not even once! And not even when I could have needed you!"

"…Was it really already two years?" Raphael asked innocently, "I already wondered why my office had not one makeover in last time."

"You do not belong here, Michael" Uriel said scolding, "They are mortal men, and you are the great archangel of war. Your place is in heaven."

"Shut the fuck up, Uriel!" Michael roared, "What's up there to do for me nowadays that Khamael can't do, eh? Only endless meetings and council speeches and piles of paperwork!"

"Still, you are the leader of the armies" Raphael added, "What would happen if the demons attacked Heaven once again?"

Michael rolled his eyes. "They won't, Raphael. Lucifer's got no reason to fight against Heaven anymore." Sighing out he said: "But if he should do – which I highly doubt - you know where to find me. Because I'll stay the fuck here!"

Raphael wanted to say something else, but Uriel held him back. "Let him be, Raphael. Michael found his place. Let's go back to Yetzirah."

The blonde angel looked at his companion with large eyes. But eventually he chuckled and said: "I guess you're right, Uriel." Turning to a large window with balcony – without doubt the one through which they entered – he said: "I'm happy for you, Mika-chan."

"Don't…"

"We'll keep your back covered up there. And if you should ever want to visit us, you are welcome to do so."

"I'm not going to come back in the foreseeable future" Michael snorted.

Uriel and Raphael chuckled lightly. "If that's your decision, it's fine by us."

With that both of them unfurled their magnificent wings. Uriel's were of a dark brown, almost black colour whereas those of Raphael were of a milky grey with blue hues, like clouds. The gust whirled up by their wings forced the pirates to cover their eyes for a moment. And in the next both of them were already gone, visible only as small specks against the white clouds.

For a while they stood there and looked into the sky. But then Kid said: "So, I guess you're going to stay with us then?"

Mika grinned. "Hey, back in Heaven I've got only boredom, stupid work and my reputation. But here I have freedom to do whatever I want _and_ a motherfucking whopping 450 _Million_ Beli bounty!"

The pirates laughed. "That's a good reason, my boy!" Scarface said heartily.

"Hey, Mika" Kid began again, "Let's go hunting for lunch. Monster bear steak, what do you think?"

"Sounds fine by me" Michael said, still grinning, "Come on; let's see who brings down the largest one, Aniki!"

They ran out of the room. Killer and the other pirates stayed behind, eventually going back to whatever they were doing before. "So, now we also got a five thousand year old angelic boy general in our ranks." Killer thought, "I don't know whether that can compare to the weirdness of the Strawhat Pirates, but it's pretty damn close."

High up above their heads were Raphael and Uriel.

"Did you notice that he is taller than two years ago?" Uriel asked eventually.

Raphael chuckled. "Our little Mika-chan is growing up it seems."

"Isn't that normally impossible once an angel has gained his complete powers?"

"Who knows?" Raphael said, "Perhaps it has something to do with his emotional state, too. As if he finally laid off his childish jealousy."

Uriel nodded thoughtfully. Then he changed the subject and said: "Let's return to heaven. We have nothing lost here anymore."

* * *

**Author's Note**

****Aaaand that's it, folks. Hope ya all enjoyed it ^^

Thank you for your patience and support - and an especially big thanks to you, mangacrack :)


End file.
